Brandon R. Burnette is the government documents librarian at the Henry G. Bennett Memorial Library at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is an author of a three-part series of articles entitled “Historic Indian Publications by the US Federal Government.”

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Blacklists

In the 1940s-'50s, a blacklist named people whose opinions or associations were deemed Communist. Opponents said blacklists and HUAC hearings violated free expression.

Comstock Act of 1873

The Comstock Act of 1873 made it illegal to send “obscene, lewd or lascivious” publications through the mail or sell or possess an obscene book, pamphlet or drawing.

Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers, leading to a ruling that said restricting publication of the papers represented prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment.