Branzburg v. Hayes

Branzburg v. Hayes
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 23, 1972 Decided June 29, 1972
Full case name	Branzburg v. John P. Hayes, Judge, etc., et al.; In the Matter of Paul Pappas; United States v. Earl Caldwell
Citations	408 U.S. 665 (more) 92 S. Ct. 2646; 33 L. Ed. 2d 626; 1972 U.S. LEXIS 132; 24 Rad. Reg. 2d (P & F) 2125; 1 Media L. Rep. 2617
Case history
Prior	Branzburg v. Pound, 461 S.W.2d 345 (Ky. 1970); cert. granted, 402 U.S. 942 (1971). In re Pappas, 358 Mass. 604, 266 N.E.2d 297 (1971); cert. granted, 402 U.S. 942 (1971). Application of Caldwell, 311 F. Supp. 358 (N.D. Cal. 1970); reversed sub nom., Caldwell v. United States, 434 F.2d 1081 (9th Cir. 1970); cert. granted, 402 U.S. 942 (1971).
Holding
The First Amendment's protection of press freedom does not give the reporter's privilege in court.
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
Majority	White, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist
Concurrence	Powell
Dissent	Douglas
Dissent	Stewart, joined by Brennan, Marshall
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I; Ky. Rev. Stat. 421.100 (1962)

Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665 (1972), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court invalidating the use of the First Amendment as a defense for reporters summoned to testify before a grand jury. The case was argued February 23, 1972, and decided June 29 of the same year.^[1] The reporters lost their case by a vote of 5–4. This case is cited for the rule that in federal courts, a reporter may not generally avoid testifying in a criminal grand jury, and is one of a limited number of cases^[2][3] in which the U.S. Supreme Court has considered the use of reporters' privilege.