prior restraint

noun

: governmental prohibition imposed on expression before the expression actually takes place

Examples of prior restraint in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Commission required that Mr. Musk subject himself to an unconstitutional prior restraint: preapproval of his material public communications about Tesla by a Tesla securities lawyer. —

Jon Brodkin, Ars Technica, 3 Nov. 2023 Media and constitutional scholars have said the city’s arguments clearly call for an unconstitutional prior restraint on information that is already in the public domain and cannot possibly be retrieved. —

Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2023 Still, such a decision in favor of prior restraint is rare and worrisome, media advocates said. —

Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2023 Watson denied the claim about prior restraint, saying that no speech is stopped under the law. —

Josh Snyder, Arkansas Online, 26 July 2023 The appeals court also rejected Musk’s prior restraint argument, saying parties entering consent decrees may voluntarily waive their First Amendment and other rights. —

Larry Neumeister, Fortune, 15 May 2023 The Nixon administration quickly tried to block further publication on the grounds that the papers would compromise national security, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the newspapers on June 30, 1971, a landmark First Amendment ruling rejecting prior restraint. —

Hillel Italie, Fortune, 16 June 2023 The Nixon administration quickly tried to block further publication on the grounds that the papers would compromise national security, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the newspapers on June 30, 1971, a major First Amendment ruling rejecting prior restraint. —

Hillel Italie, ajc, 16 June 2023 The judge said that the case was essentially about prior restraint and that the city would need to address it and wider 1st Amendment issues before any decisions would be made. —

Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prior restraint.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of prior restraint was in 1833

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Prior restraint.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prior%20restraint. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.

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Legal Definition

prior restraint

noun

: governmental prohibition on expression (especially by publication) before the expression actually takes place see also Near v. Minnesota and New York Times Co. v. United States compare censorship, freedom of speech

Note: In New York Times Co. v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court restated its position that “any system of prior restraints” bears “a heavy presumption against constitutional validity” and that the government “carries a heavy burden of showing justification for the imposition of such a restraint.”