Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo

Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Pat Tornillo
Argued April 17, 1974
Decided June 25, 1974
Full case nameMiami Herald Publishing Company, Division of Knight Newspapers, Incorporated v. Tornillo
Citations418 U.S. 241 (more)
94 S. Ct. 2831; 41 L. Ed. 2d 730; 1974 U.S. LEXIS 86; 1 Media L. Rep. 1898
Case history
PriorAppeal from the Supreme Court of Florida
Holding
A Florida law requiring newspapers to allow equal access to political candidates in the case of a political editorial or endorsement content is unconstitutional.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William O. Douglas · William J. Brennan Jr.
Potter Stewart · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell Jr. · William Rehnquist
Case opinions
MajorityBurger, joined by unanimous
ConcurrenceBrennan, joined by Rehnquist
ConcurrenceWhite
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241 (1974), was a seminal First Amendment ruling by the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court overturned a Florida state law that required newspapers to offer equal space to political candidates who wished to respond to election-related editorials or endorsements. The Supreme Court ruled that law was an unconstitutional restriction of freedom of the press under the First Amendment.