William Glendon; Won Pentagon Papers Case

[struggle4progress]

By Martin Weil
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 7, 2009; Page B05

William R. Glendon, 89, who successfully defended The Washington Post before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Pentagon Papers case, which is renowned in constitutional and journalism history, died Dec. 25 at a hospital in White Plains, N.Y. He lived in Scarsdale, N.Y ...

On June 26, 1971, Mr. Glendon, representing The Post, and Alexander Bickel, representing the New York Times, argued before the high court against an effort by the Nixon White House to prevent publication of a secret multi-volume history of America's involvement in Vietnam ...

When <Scarsdale> town officials barred a private Nativity display from public property, Mr. Glendon, an attorney for the town, worked with its litigators, although their position conflicted with his First Amendment beliefs.

The case went to the Supreme Court in 1985. Mr. Glendon did not argue there, but afterward, he held a reception for his neighbors on both sides. (The ban was ultimately overturned.) He later was town mayor ...

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