Snepp v. United States - Significance, Snepp Writes Decent Interval, Impact, Further Readings

agency william appellant cia

Appellant

Frank W. Snepp III

Appellee

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Appellant's Claim

That CIA requirements for agency prepublication review of writings about the agency by employees and former employees constituted unconstitutional prior restraint on freedom of speech in violation of the First Amendment.

Chief Lawyers for Appellant

Alan M. Dershowitz, Bruce J. Ennis, Joel M. Gora, Mark H. Lynch, Jack D. Novik, John H. F. Shattuck, John Cary Sims, Geoffrey J. Vitt

Chief Lawyers for Appellee

David J. Anderson, Barbara Allen Babcock, William B. Cummings, Brook Hedge, Thomas S. Martin, Elizabeth Gere Whitaker, Glenn V. Whitaker, George P. Williams

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White (unsigned)

Justices Dissenting

William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, John Paul Stevens

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

19 February 1980

Decision

Upheld lower court decisions that a compelling government interest justifies publication safeguards in CIA employee contracts and waives their First Amendment rights to free speech.

Related Cases

Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931).
New York Times Company v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971).
United States v. The Progressive, 467 F.Supp. 990 (W.D. Wis. 1979).
Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280 (1981).

Additional Topics

Snepp v. United States - Significance

The ruling recognized a situation where government compelling interest justified imposing a prior restraint on publications about the agency by employees and former employees. The United States successfully argued that uninhibited freedom to publish materials on CIA activities, even when classified information was not involved, still jeopardized international trust relationships with foreign natio…

Snepp v. United States - Snepp Writes Decent Interval

Despite the documents he had signed, Snepp went to the publishing company Random House with a book manuscript titled Decent Interval. The book described the American withdrawal from Vietnam and Saigon and offered unflattering details about the CIA's involvement. The book detailed CIA dishonesty and corruption during the U.S. pullout of Vietnam. Snepp received a $60,000 advance from Random House, a…

Snepp v. United States - Impact

Despite the Court's historic concern for First Amendment rights, the Snepp decision reaffirmed that the government is entitled to enforce contracts with its employees that prohibit publishing sensitive material without prior consent. However, the decision went beyond a relatively simple question of contract law. The ruling recognized national security concerns in a peace time era as sufficient com…

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