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Morrison v. Olson

Facts of the Case

Provided by Oyez

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 created a special court and empowered the Attorney General to recommend to that court the appointment of an "independent counsel" to investigate, and, if necessary, prosecute government officials for certain violations of federal criminal laws.

Questions

  1. Did the Act violate the constitutional principal of separation of powers?

Conclusions

  1. The Court addressed a number of constitutional issues in this case and upheld the law. The near-unanimous Court held that the means of selecting the independent counsel did not violate the Appointments Clause; the powers allocated to the special court did not violate Article III; and the Act was not offensive to the separation of powers doctrine since it did not impermissibly interfere with the functions of the Executive Branch.

Towards an Administrative Rule of Lenity: Restoring the Constitutional Congress by Reforming Statutory Interpretation
Federalist Society Review

Towards an Administrative Rule of Lenity: Restoring the Constitutional Congress by Reforming Statutory Interpretation

Joel S. Nolette

Federalist Society Review, Volume 19

Note from the Editor: In this article, Joel Nolette proposes an “administrative rule of lenity”...