<P> In 1798, shortly after the adoption of the Constitution, the governing Federalist Party attempted to stifle criticism with the Alien and Sedition Acts . According to the Sedition Act, criticism of Congress or the President (but not the Vice-President) was a crime; Thomas Jefferson--a non-Federalist--was Vice-President when the act was passed . These restrictions on the press were very unpopular, leading to the party's eventual demise . Jefferson, who vehemently opposed the acts, was elected president in 1800 and pardoned most of those convicted under them . In his March 4, 1801 inaugural address, he reiterated his longstanding commitment to freedom of speech and of the press: "If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it ." </P> <P> In mid-August 1861, four New York City newspapers (the New York Daily News, The Journal of Commerce, the Day Book and the New York Freeman's Journal) were given a presentment by a U.S. Circuit Court grand jury for "frequently encouraging the rebels by expressions of sympathy and agreement". This began a series of federal prosecutions during the Civil War of northern U.S. newspapers which expressed sympathy for Southern causes or criticized the Lincoln administration . Lists of "peace newspapers", published in protest by the New York Daily News, were used to plan retributions . The Bangor Democrat in Maine, was one of these newspapers; assailants believed part of a covert Federal raid destroyed the press and set the building ablaze . These actions followed executive orders issued by President Abraham Lincoln; his August 7, 1861 order made it illegal (punishable by death) to conduct "correspondence with" or give "intelligence to the enemy, either directly or indirectly". </P> <P> The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, which amended it, imposed restrictions on the press during wartime . The acts imposed a fine of $10,000 and up to 20 years' imprisonment for those publishing "...disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States, or the flag ..." In Schenck v. United States (1919) the Supreme Court upheld the laws, setting the "clear and present danger" standard . Congress repealed both laws in 1921, and Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) revised the clear - and - present - danger test to the significantly less - restrictive "imminent lawless action" test . In Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988), the Supreme Court upheld the right of a school principal to review (and suppress) controversial articles in a school newspaper funded by the school and published in its name . Chelsea Manning was found guilty of six counts of espionage for furnishing classified information to Wikileaks in United States v. Manning (2013), preventing The New York Times from publishing Manning's material . </P>

The supreme court has protected freedom of the press by