MC 4163 FIRST EXAM STUDY GUIDE:
Incorporation
Prior Restraint
Know the correct legal definitions and rules. Be able to correctly recognize and apply them in hypothetical situations.
- Understand the doctrine of incorporation, why it is important in mass media law, and the significance of Gitlow v. New York (1925).
- State Action. Will discuss in class.
- What are the basic rules regarding prior restraint?
- Near v. Minn. (1931):
- Know who did what to get into trouble.
- Justice Hughes said prior restraint by the government might be permissible under what three circumstances?
- The cases stands for what proposition?
- For the "Pentagon Papers" case, know what got whom into trouble. Explain how the U.S. Supreme Court's majority decision in the "Pentagon Papers" case rested on the preferred position balancing theory.
- What is the Preferred Position Balancing Theory? (Pember, Page 47)
- What presumption does it include?
- Who has the burden to prove what?
- Why is that presumption important?
- Explain whether the majority said prior restraint in similar situations would always violate the First Amendment.
- "Progressive magazine" case: Will discuss in class. Know what got whom into trouble. What danger did the article pose? What did U.S. District Court Judge Robert Warren conclude? What happened to end the case? Was Warren correct in his conclusion? How did Warren distinguish between the "Pentagon Papers" and "The Progressive" cases to justify an injunction against publication?
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