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Legal Principle at Issue

Whether a police search of a student newspaper, conducted pursuant to a warrant, violated the First Amendment when the information sought pertained to criminal investigations.

Action

Reversed. Petitioning party received a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

Respondents, a student newspaper that had published articles and photographs of a clash between demonstrators and police at a hospital, and staff members, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against, among others, Petitioners, law enforcement and district attorney personnel, claiming that a search pursuant to a warrant issued on a judge's finding of probable cause that the newspaper (which was not involved in the unlawful acts) possessed photographs and negatives revealing the identities of demonstrators who had assaulted police officers at the hospital had deprived respondents of their constitutional rights.