Yesterday was the release date for Henry Schuelke’s report on misconduct in the prosecution of the late Senator Ted Stevens. The report, which I have only skimmed, is available here. In addition, Judge Sullivan’s opinion ordering the public release of the report may be read here. Judge Sullivan summarizes the case for release by noting: [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Speech or Debate category.
The Use and Abuse of Legislative Privilege- Canadian Edition
The Speaker of the Canadian Parliament (who is 32 years old!) issued this ruling last week in response to a point of order. The issue concerned the action of a Government Minister who had “tabled a document” with the House detailing a political donation made by a particular named individual. The point of order was [...]
Congressional Regulation of the Press Galleries
As described in this Hill article by Alexander Bolton, Vice President Biden’s office has filed a complaint with the Senate Press Gallery regarding the tactics used by a credentialed reporter who used the pretense of posing for a photograph with the Vice President to get close enough to ask him a question. In case you [...]
After Only 499 Years, Have We Forgotten Richard Strode?
Warning: If you are not deep in the weeds of Speech or Debate, this post may not be for you. With regard to the question of whether the Speech or Debate Clause prohibits former Congressman Renzi’s prosecution in connection with his role in developing certain land exchange legislation, one English precedent stands out as particularly [...]
A Point of Order Final Exam
Consider the following facts: Jeffrey Sterling served as a CIA officer from 1993 to January 31, 2002. During that time, he became acquainted with a clandestine operational program that was designed to disrupt the nuclear development activities of Iran. According to a book later written by James Risen, this program involved a “botched attempt under [...]
An Alternative to Speech or Debate
My last three posts (see here, here and here) suggest that a nondisclosure privilege would be an awkward fit with the text, purpose and history of the Speech or Debate Clause. A final consideration that militates against a nondisclosure privilege is the absolute nature of the Clause. If the Clause protects against disclosure of legislative [...]
Parliamentary Privilege and Nondisclosure
Because the Speech or Debate Clause was modeled on article 9 of the English Bill of Rights, U.S. courts have long looked to English practice and precedent as a guide to its interpretation. This approach is reflected in the very first case to consider the Clause, Kilbourn v. Thompson, 103 U.S. 168 (1881), where the [...]
Speech or Debate and Nondisclosure
Now I will turn to the question of whether the Speech or Debate Clause should be read to encompass a “nondisclosure” privilege, which would protect Members of Congress from being required to produce information regarding their legislative activities. Following the hypothetical in my last post, suppose the Justice Department serves Senator Smith with a grand [...]
The Three Established Branches of Speech or Debate
In a prior post, I addressed one of the two major Speech or Debate issues in the Renzi case. That issue involved the application of one of the three established branches of the Speech or Debate privilege. The other issue in Renzi is whether the courts should recognize a fourth branch of the privilege, namely [...]
Can Representative Waters Take the Ethics Committee to Court?
According to this Politico story, “Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is threatening to take the House Ethics Committee to federal court if the secretive panel charges her with any violations of House rules.” This statement appears to reflect a misunderstanding of a letter sent by Stan Brand, Waters’s attorney, to the chairman and ranking member of [...]