The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Claim

Claim 756

The Court said the ban's impact on Smith's ability to make a truthful public statement was dramatic, since he had been free before testifying to speak about matters of public concern but believed he could no longer communicate that information.

Published 2026-09-26. Last reviewed 2026-09-26. 1 source.

Statement
The Court said the ban's impact on Smith's ability to make a truthful public statement was dramatic, since he had been free before testifying to speak about matters of public concern but believed he could no longer communicate that information.
Field
effect_on_reporting
Value
Ban had a dramatic effect on Smith
About
incident 1990-us-butterworth-v-smith-grand-jury-secrecy
Source
Butterworth v. Smith, 494 U.S. 624 (1990)
Publisher
Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
Method
court record
Checked
2026-09-26
Confidence
high
Status
current
Source date
1990-03-21

Quotation from the source

The ban's impact on Smith's ability to make a truthful public statement is dramatic. Here, Smith, who before testifying was free to speak about information he possessed on matters of admitted public concern, believes that he is no longer free to communicate this information.