In the 1973 case of Miami Herald Publishing Co., Division of Knight Newspapers, Inc. v. Tornillo, the U.S Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a Florida statute requiring newspapers to grant political candidates equal space for reply to criticism and attacks on their record was unconstitutional. The court held that such a requirement violated the First Amendment's guarantee of press freedom. Pat Tornillo, executive director of United Teachers of Dade County in Florida, had demanded free space under this law after being criticized by The Miami Herald during his campaign for state legislature. However, Justice Warren E Burger argued that forcing newspapers to publish replies from criticized politicians could lead to self-censorship due to limited printing capacity and time constraints; thus infringing upon editorial control and judgement.

In the case of Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, there was no dissenting opinion as the decision was unanimous. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Miami Herald Publishing Company, stating that Florida's "right to reply" statute violated the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of press by infringing upon editorial control and judgement. This landmark ruling affirmed that government cannot force newspapers to publish certain content, which would amount to a form of compelled speech and is therefore unconstitutional.