Zenger's Case: Prototype of a Political Trial
AMERICAN POLITICAL TRIALS, Revised ed., Michal Belknap, ed., pp. 21-42, Greenwood, 1994
22 Pages Posted: 17 Nov 2009
Date Written: 1994
Abstract
In this article, Professor Finkelman examines the 1735 Zenger case and its implications for free press in America. Despite its limited legal significance, the Zenger case became an important ideological and political precedent. While some scholars have argued against the historical significance of the case, Professor Finkelman holds that the most important aspect of the Zenger legacy is that “in the revolutionary period it was always there as a guiding light for those who were gradually developing an ideology of freedom of expression.”
Keywords: Zenger, free press
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