Morrison v. Olson

Facts

In 1982, two House Subcommittees subpoenaed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for documents about enforcing the “Superfund Law.” On Justice Department advice, the President ordered the EPA Administrator to withhold some documents under executive privilege. The House held the Administrator in contempt. The conflict abated in March 1983, when the administration gave the Subcommittees limited access. The House Judiciary Committee then investigated the Justice Department’s role. Olson, an Assistant Attorney General, had testified to a Subcommittee on March 10, 1983. In 1985, the Committee’s majority published a report suggesting that Olson gave false and misleading testimony and that Schmults and Dinkins, other Justice Department officials, wrongfully withheld documents. The Chairman asked the Attorney General to seek an independent counsel, a prosecutor the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 lets a special court appoint to investigate certain high officials. The Attorney General applied only as to Olson. On April 23, 1986, the special court, called the Special Division, appointed McKay, and on May 29, 1986, it appointed Morrison to replace him. In May and June 1987, Morrison had a grand jury subpoena all three men. They moved to quash, arguing the Act was unconstitutional.

Issues

1. Is the independent counsel an inferior officer rather than a principal officer, and if so, may Congress vest her appointment in a court under the Appointments Clause?
2. Do the powers the Act gives the Special Division, including defining the counsel’s jurisdiction and terminating her office, violate the limits of Article III?
3. Does the Act’s limit on removing the independent counsel except for good cause, or the Act taken as a whole, violate the separation of powers by interfering with the Executive Branch?

Holding

The independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act do not violate the Appointments Clause, Article III, or the separation of powers. The counsel is an inferior officer, the Special Division may appoint her, and the Executive keeps sufficient control over her.