Zurcher v. Stanford Daily

Zurcher v. Stanford Daily
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 17, 1978 Decided May 31, 1978
Full case name	'
Docket nos.	76-1484
Citations	436 U.S. 547 (more)
Holding
The search of a newsroom does not violate the Fourth Amendment.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell, Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	White, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist
Concurrence	Powell
Dissent	Stewart, joined by Marshall
Dissent	Stevens
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. IV

Zurcher v. Stanford Daily 436 U.S. 547 (1978) is a United States Supreme Court case from 1978 in which The Stanford Daily, a student newspaper at Stanford University, was searched by police after they suspected the paper to be in possession of photographs of a demonstration that took place at the campus' medical center in April 1971. The paper filed a suit claiming that under the protection of the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution, the warrants were unconstitutional and that the searches should have fallen under the context of subpoenas. The court ruled against The Stanford Daily; however, Congress passed the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, which prohibits search and seizures related to journalism unless the writer is suspected of a crime or a life-threatening situation is present.

Decision and opinion

Justice White delivered the court's 5–3 opinion in favor of Zurcher.

See also

• Corry v. Stanford

External links

• Zurcher vs. Stanford Daily at Palo Alto History.Com