United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers

Published 2026-09-22. Last reviewed 2026-09-22. 2 sources.

Status: historical, as of 2026-09-22.

After The New York Times began publishing a leaked secret history of the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration obtained a court order stopping further publication, the first such order against a major American newspaper. The Supreme Court lifted it two weeks later, ruling the government had not justified blocking publication in advance.¹

Country: United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)
Where: United States
Level of government: National
Tactics: Prior restraint, Secrets and espionage laws
Stage: Silence (see the ladder)
Head of government at the time: Richard Nixon
Issue of the day: The Pentagon Papers documented decades of internal government decision-making on the Vietnam War that contradicted public statements by several administrations, and the Nixon administration sought to prevent further disclosure of the classified history.
Outcome: Reversed, June 30, 1971. The Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that the government's request for an injunction against publication failed to overcome the heavy presumption against prior restraint.
Era: The 1970s

What happened

Military analyst Daniel Ellsberg copied a classified Defense Department history of United States involvement in Vietnam, later known as the Pentagon Papers, and gave it to The New York Times, which began publishing excerpts on June 13, 1971. The Department of Justice obtained a temporary restraining order from a federal court on June 15, 1971, the first time the United States government had gone to court to stop a major newspaper from publishing a specific story, arguing publication would harm national security. When The Washington Post also began publishing excerpts, the government sought an injunction against it too. The Supreme Court of the United States, the country's highest court, heard the consolidated case on an emergency basis and ruled 6 to 3 on June 30, 1971, in New York Times Co. v. United States, that the government had not met the heavy burden required to justify stopping publication in advance, and both papers resumed publishing.²³¹

What reason was given

Government lawyers argued that publishing the classified history would cause grave and irreparable harm to United States national security and ongoing diplomatic and military efforts in Vietnam.³

What changed for reporting

The New York Times and The Washington Post were barred by court order from publishing further excerpts of the Pentagon Papers for roughly two weeks until the Supreme Court lifted the injunction.²³¹

Timeline

1971

June 15, 1971

United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers

Who acted

Name	Role in this incident	Office at the time
Daniel Ellsberg	other	Military analyst who copied the Pentagon Papers
Richard Nixon	enforced	President of the United States (1969-1974)

Outlets and journalists

Name	Kind	Relation
The New York Times	outlet	affected
The Washington Post	outlet	affected

Sources

New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971)Justia US Supreme Court Center, 1971-06-30, reporting. Source record
Pentagon PapersEncyclopaedia Britannica, reporting. Source record

Claims cited

The Pentagon Papers were commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and covered the United States role in Indochina from the Second World War until May 1968, before Daniel Ellsberg leaked them in 1971. Pentagon Papers, papers that contain a history of the U.S. role in Indochina from World War II until May 1968. Pentagon Papers, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Claim 134, checked 2026-09-22.
The Supreme Court's per curiam opinion said any system of restraints on publication ordered in advance came to the Court bearing a heavy presumption against being constitutional. Any system of prior restraints of expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity. New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), Justia US Supreme Court Center, 1971-06-30. Claim 132, checked 2026-09-22.
Justice Hugo Black wrote that the press was protected precisely so it could disclose the government's secrets and inform the public. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), Justia US Supreme Court Center, 1971-06-30. Claim 133, checked 2026-09-22.