United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665 (1972)

Branzburg v. Hayes

No. 70-85

Argued February 23, 1972

Decided June 29, 1972*

408 U.S. 665

Syllabus

The First Amendment does not relieve a newspaper reporter of the obligation that all citizens have to respond to a grand jury subpoena and answer questions relevant to a criminal investigation, and therefore the Amendment does not afford him a constitutional testimonial privilege for an agreement he makes to conceal facts relevant to a grand jury's investigation of a crime or to conceal the criminal conduct of his source or evidence thereof. Pp. 408 U. S. 679-709.

No. 705, 461 S.W.2d 345, and Kentucky Court of Appeals judgment in unreported case of Branzburg v. Meigs, and No. 70-94, 358 Mass. 604, 266 N.E.2d 297, affirmed; No. 70-57, 434 F.2d 1081, reversed.

WHITE, J., wrote the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. POWELL, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 408 U. S. 709. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 408 U. S. 711. STEWART, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BRENNAN and MARSHALL, JJ., joined, post, p. 408 U. S. 725.

Page 408 U. S. 667