The Gulf War was a sixth month conflict between Iraq and 30 nations led by the United States in order to liberate Kuwait.

The Department of Defense argued that the First Amendment does not restrict them from barring journalists from the battlefield and claimed that the primary purpose of the press pools is to develop "a cooperative arrangement designed to balance the media's desire for unilateral coverage with...the responsibility to maintain operational security, protect the safety of the troops, and prevent interference with military operations" (The Nation Magazine v. U.S. Dep't of Defense, 762 F. Supp.

The South District Court of New York had to determine three things applied to make a ruling on the case: First, that the plaintiffs (the Nation) had "standing."

A plaintiff has standing if he "has suffered an actual or threatened injury which is fairly traceable to the defendant's conduct and which is likely to be redressed by a favorable decision."

At this point, the press pools had been lifted (as of March 4, 1991) so the Court decided they would rule on the constitutionality of the issue when "the controversy is more sharply focused."

Generally, a case becomes moot when the issues presented no longer matter or both parties involved lack serious interest in a court decision.

The Court hesitantly stated that the press seems to have "minimal right of access to view and report on major events that affect the functioning of government, including...an overt combat operation."

Joined in this suit are Nation [1], Harper’s, In These Times, Pacific News Service, The Guardian, The Progressive, Mother Jones, The L.A. Weekly, The Village Voice, The Texas Observer, Pacifica Radio News, Sydney H. Schanberg, E. L. Doctorow, William Styron, Michael Klare, and Scott Armstrong, plus a separate lawsuit filed by Agence France-Presse.

The list of interested parties with amicus curiae briefs included thirteen members of Congress, the American Civil Liberties Union, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, and academics Ben Bagdikian, Todd Gitlin, and Herbert I. Schiller, among others.

The defendants included Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Peter Williams, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell, and President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces George Bush."