Grosjean v. American Press Company
GROSJEAN V. AMERICAN PRESS COMPANY,
GROSJEAN V. AMERICAN PRESS COMPANY, 297 U.S. 233 (1936). To stifle criticism from his political enemies, U.S. senator Huey Long of Louisiana persuaded the legislature of his state to place a 2 percent license tax on the sale of advertising in newspapers with a weekly circulation of more than twenty thousand (which covered most of the state's opposition newspapers). Nine Louisiana newspaper publishers challenged the law in court. In Grosjean v. American Press Company, Justice George Sutherland wrote for a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court, holding the Louisiana law unconstitutional under the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution because it abridged the freedom of the press.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hair, William Ivy. The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey P. Long. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1991.
R. BlakeBrown