U.S.+v.+Nixon+(R6)

media type="custom" key="3537662"U.S. v. Nixon (Mr. Rieck period 6) FACTS/BACKGROUND: The 1970s were a time of growing distrust in the National Govt. The Pentagon Papers exposed the international deception of the American people about Vietnam. Americans were shocked when the National Guard opened fire at a Kent State University protest following Nixon’s authorization of the U.S. to attack Cambodia. Four Students were killed. Nixon would soon add more fuel to the fire, attempting to cover up illegal actions by himself and his administration. In June 1972, five men armed with cameras and bugging equipment were arrested inside the Democratic National Committee's offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Police soon discovered that the burglars worked, directly or indirectly, for the Committee to Re-Elect the President. President Nixon and leaders of his campaign denied any connection with the incident. The five men were convicted of burglary, along with E. Howard Hunt, Jr., a former Nixon aide, and G. Gordon Liddy, a lawyer for the Committee to Re-elect the President. Shortly afterward, the presiding judge received a letter from one of the convicted men. It spoke of payoffs to the burglars in return for their silence—the men had perjured themselves to protect others involved in the break-in. In 1973, a Senate select committee began an investigation, and it became clear that top members of the Nixon administration were involved in a cover-up of the break-in and several other illegal actions. It was also discovered that Nixon had installed a taping system that automatically recorded all of his conversations with his advisors. A special prosecutor appointed to probe the Watergate scandal subpoenaed the tapes. Nixon refused to release them, claiming they were protected under executive privilege. Nixon eventually released some of the tapes, but portions of them had been erased. Finally, another special prosecutor asked the United States Supreme Court to compel Nixon to release all of the tapes in their entirety. ISSUE/MAJOR QUESTION Nixon’s actions were, without question, illegal. However, the fact that he was the president was questionably enough authority to commit the crime of illegal searching (searching and wiring without a warrant.) Also, President Nixon had tapes of conversations he had had over the phone. He refused to release these tapes until he was ordered by the Supreme Court to release them. Does the separation of powers created by the Constitution provide the President with an absolute power to withhold information from other branches of government? If the power is not absolute, should President Nixon be able to claim executive privilege under the aforementioned circumstances? Does the separation of powers allow for the settlement of this dispute to reside in the executive branch or should it be settled by the judicial branch? Does the claim of executive privilege damage the precedent set by the 5th Amendment, which ensures due process? MAJOR LAW OR RIGHTS DISCUSSED The rights of the president to act above the law in a way he thought to be beneficial to the country. Also the rights of the president to with hold information from the other branches of govt. DECISION (courts answers to the question, yes/no, vote) YES The Court ruled unanimously that President Richard Nixon had to surrender the tapes. Chief Justice Warren Burger delivered the opinion of the Court. Burger wrote, “The impediment that an absolute, unqualified [executive] privilege would place in the way of the primary constitutional duty of the Judicial Branch to do justice in criminal prosecutions would plainly conflict with the function of the courts under Art[icle] III.” Burger then turned his attention to the damage that a privilege of confidentiality would cause to citizens' constitutional rights: “The right to the production of all evidence at a criminal trial similarly has constitutional dimensions. The Sixth Amendment explicitly confers upon every defendant in a criminal trial the right 'to be confronted with the witnesses against him' and 'to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor.' Moreover, the Fifth Amendment also guarantees that no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process. It is the manifest duty of the courts to vindicate those guarantees, and to accomplish that it is essential that all relevant and admissible evidence be produced.” The Court made it clear that the President could not withhold evidence from an ongoing criminal prosecution of another person simply because he was the President. Several days before, the House Judiciary Committee had approved three articles of impeachment. On August 9, 1974, Nixon became the first President in U.S. history to resign from the presidency. He did so in order to avoid going through the likely prospect of being impeached by the full House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate. REASONING (justification behind the decision) The Court ruled unanimously that President Richard Nixon had to surrender the tapes. Chief Justice Warren Burger delivered the opinion of the Court. Burger wrote, “The impediment that an absolute, unqualified [executive] privilege would place in the way of the primary constitutional duty of the Judicial Branch to do justice in criminal prosecutions would plainly conflict with the function of the courts under Art[icle] III.” Burger then turned his attention to the damage that a privilege of confidentiality would cause to citizens' constitutional rights: “The right to the production of all evidence at a criminal trial similarly has constitutional dimensions. The Sixth Amendment explicitly confers upon every defendant in a criminal trial the right 'to be confronted with the witnesses against him' and 'to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor.' Moreover, the Fifth Amendment also guarantees that no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process. It is the manifest duty of the courts to vindicate those guarantees, and to accomplish that it is essential that all relevant and admissible evidence be produced.” The Court made it clear that the President could not withhold evidence from an ongoing criminal prosecution of another person simply because he was the President. Several days before, the House Judiciary Committee had approved three articles of impeachment. On August 9, 1974, Nixon became the first President in U.S. history to resign from the presidency. He did so in order to avoid going through the likely prospect of being impeached by the full House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate. IMPACT (major societal impact, example major change in society as result of decision) Because of the very rapid and sudden deception by the government, the people have never since had the same trust toward our nations leaders.

DISSENTING ARGUMENT The constitutional scheme of separation of powers grants to the President the privilege of withholding information from the other branches of government. Furthermore, this power is absolute, and it is vital where high-level communications are involved. In addition, this dispute should be resolved within the executive branch, not by the courts. All thanks for knowledge, text, and...uh...Nixon-y-ness got to [|www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar41.html]