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 restrictions thus function as the equivalent of a prior restraint, giving the FEC power analogous to the type of government practices that the First Amendment was drawn to prohibit. —Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 24 Jan. 2025

Peterson’s lawyer Michael Hayden fought the move, calling it an unfair prior restraint on his client’s free speech. —Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 9 Jan. 2025

The president and provost were named and sued for damages in their personal capacity due to both parties showing their involvement in prior restraint with the protest, McGivern said. —Lily Kepner, Austin American-Statesman, 29 Aug. 2024

That lawsuit amounts to a request for a blatantly unconstitutional prior restraint. —Seth Stern, Orange County Register, 13 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1833, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for prior restraint

• acquaint
• complaint
• constraint
• distraint
• enceinte
• repaint
• faint
• feint
• maint
• paint
• plaint
• quaint

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.”