US VS NIXON

“I AM NOT A CROOK”

In June 1972, five men were caught robbing the Democratic National committee at Watergate. The five men were thought to be working with President Nixon's Re-election Committee When a subpoena was issued asking for the tapes, Nixon denied giving them out saying it's his executive privilege to keep them confidential The case went to the supreme court.

Question:

Does executive privilege allow president to keep all information confidential from judicial review?

ANSWER

No. The Court said that neither the doctrine of separation of powers, nor the generalized need for confidentiality of high-level communications, without more, can be withheld in court due to confidentiality The Court gave preference to "the fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair administration of justice." Therefore, the president must obey the subpoena and produce the tapes and documents. Nixon resigned shortly after the release of the tapes.

What did Richard Nixon say to the contractor working on his kitchen?

“Build me a breakfast nook!”

Precedent- It limited the powers of any future president. It also greatly affected the following cases immensely:

Cheney v. United States Dist. Court-a nonprofit organization, filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the National

Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG), the Vice President, other federal officials, and several private individuals. The NEPDG was a task force

charged with developing a national energy policy.

Hohn v. United States. 524 US 236 (1998)-Petitioner Hohn filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate his conviction for “use” of a firearm during a

drug trafficking offense, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1), claiming the evidence was insufficient to prove such “use” under this Court’s intervening decision in

Bailey v. United States, 516 U.S. 137.

Trammel v. United States 445 US40 (1980) -Trammel and his wife were both involved in smuggling heroin. His wife was caught red-handed, and agreed to

testify against her husband in return for leniency. The one concern was whether or not the testimonial privilege against adverse testimony by a

spouse may be invoked by the defendant spouse.

The public did not approve of this scandal. They felt strongly against Nixon claiming he had moral issues and cheated to win the presidency. Not even Nixon's earlier supporters felt he was in the right. The public was also outraged that Ford had pardoned Nixon, claiming Nixon should be in prison

Personally...

We believe that the supreme court's decision claiming executive privilege is still up for judicial review is correct. It shows even though the president is higher up it still is an equal playing field and that nobody is above the law.

Work Cited

Farnsworth, Malcolm. Ford pardoning Nixon. History Place. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. <http://watergate.info/ford/pardon.shtml>.

Mok, Tiffany. “Nixon and Supreme Court.” Writing 125. N.p., 2006. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.

Pearson Education, Inc. “US v. Nixon.” Infoplease. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. <http://www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar41.html>.www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-475.ZS.htmlhttp://www.4lawnotes.com/showthread.php?t=796