During the nixon administration, when two newspapers began to publish a classified governmental document about the vietnam war, the supreme court sided with the nixon administration. upheld the right of the newspapers to print the document. refused to hear the case. issued an injunction prohibiting the newspapers from publishing classified documents. overturned the separate-but-equal doctrine.

Upheld the right of the newspapers to print the document.

New York Times Co. v. United States was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1971. The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and the Washington Post to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without censorship.

The question was whether the freedom of the press, guaranteed by the First Amendment, was subordinate to the need to maintain secrecy as stated by the executive branch, President Nixon. The court claimed that the First Amendment protected the freedom of press of the newspapers.