Nothing about the destruction of the printing press ever seemed right to me. Where are the owners' due process rights? The destruction happened three days after the first issue was printed. The owners of the press had no notice or opportunity to attend a hearing before the destruction. There was no trial. The people making the decision to destroy the press--namely Joseph Smith--obviously had a personal interest in the outcome, as they were attacked by the paper. Also, where are the owners' free speech and free press rights?
Despite what seem like glaring legal problems, smart LDS people insist that the destruction was legal. After a little poking around, I discovered that Elder Dallin Oaks wrote a law review article answering that very question. Oaks, Dallin H. "the Suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor" Utah law Review 9 (Winter 1965): 862-903. Surprisingly he concludes that the suppression of the expositor was mostly legal.
Most federal constitutional rights didn't apply to the acts of the city because the events occurred before the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment(which is interpreted as incorporating most of the Bill of Rights against the states). Nauvoo was a charter city, and thus was operating under state law power, not federal law. Thus, the first amendment restrictions do not apply to the city council's acts.
Most federal constitutional rights didn't apply to the acts of the city because the events occurred before the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment(which is interpreted as incorporating most of the Bill of Rights against the states). Nauvoo was a charter city, and thus was operating under state law power, not federal law. Thus, the first amendment restrictions do not apply to the city council's acts.
Furthermore, the destruction of the press was done pursuant to legislative power, not judicial power. Thus, many of the due process rights that would likely apply under state constitutional law do not apply. Freedom of press rights in the Illinois constitution only apply to prior restraints on publication. Here, there arguably was no prior restraint on publication only a post hoc act to abate a nuisance caused by the first issue's publication. Furthermore, Blackstone's commentaries seem to specifically contemplate that this type of legislative nuisance abatement is permissible.
Elder Oaks's article has convinced me: The suppression of the Expositor was probably mostly legal. But I still think it was a bad policy choice, and probably a bad political choice too.
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