The Volokh Conspiracy - Freedom of Speech and the Press, and Anti-Semitic Speech or Writing:

What was the first U.S. Supreme Court freedom of speech or freedom of the press case in which the speaker or publisher was engaged in anti-Semitic speech or writing?

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	[Eugene Volokh, January 22, 2007 at 11:50pm] Trackbacks Freedom of Speech and the Press, and Anti-Semitic Speech or Writing: What was the first U.S. Supreme Court freedom of speech or freedom of the press case in which the speaker or publisher was engaged in anti-Semitic speech or writing? (Show answer.) Near v. Minnesota (1931), which is -- depending how you count it -- either the second or third Supreme Court case to strike down government action on freedom of speech or freedom of the press grounds, and the first such case to focus on the freedom of the press. Near struck down an injunction against a publication that had libeled people in the past, and the legal issue focused on whether such injunctions are generally impermissible "prior restraints," not on whether anti-Semitic speech is constitutionally protected. But the case did involve a harshly anti-Semitic publication. (Hide answer.)