Nixon v. General Services Administration

Nixon V. General Services Administration
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April, 20 1977, 1977 Reargued October 11, 1977 Decided June 28 1977, 1977
Full case name	NIXON v. ADMINISTRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES 433 U.S. 425 (1977)
Holding
Congress has the power to pass an act directing the seizure and disposition, within the control of the Executive Branch, of the papers and tapes of a former president.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell, Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	Brennan, joined by White, Douglas, Blackmun, Stewart, Marshall, Powell
Dissent	Burger, joined by Rehnquist

Nixon V. General Services Administration, 433 U.S 425 ( 1977) is a landmark court case concerning the principle of presidential privilege and whether the public is allowed to view a President’s “confidential documents”. The Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, signed into law by President Gerald Ford in 1974, ordered that the Administrator of General Services obtain President Richard Nixon’s presidential papers and tape recordings. In addition, the Act further ordered that government archivists seize these materials. These archivists would preserve the material deemed historic and return to former President Nixon the materials deemed as private. Furthermore, this Act stated that material that was preserved could be used in judicial hearings and proceedings. Immediately after this Act was enacted, Richard Nixon filed a lawsuit in a federal district court claiming that the Act violated the principle of separation of powers, the principle of presidential privilege, Nixon’s personal privacy, his First Amendment right of association, and further asserted that it amounted to a constitutionally prohibited Bill of Attainder. ^[1]

Background

This case was argued a few years after the Watergate scandal had broken out and President Nixon was compelled to resign in the face of impeachment proceedings. President Nixon objected to the seizure and of documents from the Nixon Administration, as he did not want to further tarnish the public’s already negative perception of him as a corrupt and scheming politician. Given that he was not liable to criminal prosecution, as he had been pardoned, Nixon’s concern for his reputation appears to be the primary reason that he did not want his private documents to be inspected by historical archivists and made available to the public. The forty two million pages of documents and eight hundred and eighty tape recordings produced during his presidency would reveal critical information about Nixon’s involvement in the Watergate scandal, his real opinions on a wide range of issues, and further perpetuate his image as a paranoid and secretive President. ^[2]> These are some of the underlying personal motives as to why Richard Nixon chose to file a lawsuit against the Administrator of General Services the day after President Ford signed the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act into law.

President Nixon also felt that this Act broke the confidentiality promise that the Administrator of General Services gave to Nixon after he resigned from the presidency. This confidentiality agreement stated that both Richard Nixon and the General Service Administration Could not access the former President’s tapes and documents located near his California home without each party’s respective consent. The agreement specifically provided that Richard Nixon could not withdraw any copies over a three year period unless he made or withdrew new copies of tapes and documents, that he could only withdraw any of the original tapes after five years, and that all of the tapes would be destroyed ten years after Nixon’s death. Congress was upset as to how President Nixon’s official business records were to be kept concealed from public review, and wanted to make President publically accountable for his actions. Therefore, shortly after this confidentiality agreement was announced, Congress decided to introduce a bill that would provide for greater public access to Richard Nixon’s records. ^[3]

The Conflict

The main conflict in this case is whether a federal statute authorizing that the President will have his records inspected by government archivists violates the principles of separation of powers and executive privilege. In addition, there is a conflict in this case whether a President’s personal materials are deemed as private even though the public has a high level of interest in them. Furthermore, it is debatable whether the government’s seizure of President Nixon's materials was actually "limited intrusion". ^[4] The main conflict in this case is whether it was constitutional for government archivists to seize President Nixon's materials. ^[5]

Historical Context

At this time in history, the American people were so infuriated by the Watergate scandal that they were determined to make sure the President would never again receive so many confidentiality privileges. Many people viewed the Nixon administration as on the verge of being tyrannical because it concealed so much information from the public, and it because Richard Nixon sought to avoid accountability for his actions. This contributed to the fact that Congress successfully secured approval of a bill that was intended to ensure that the President’s private material from his presidency would partially be made available for the public to see. In addition, President Ford’s support for the bill was in part to compensate for his taking the controversial step of pardoning President Nixon.

Most Americans then believed that it was unfair that President Nixon could resign and not face any type of trial or face any consequences for his corrupt and unlawful conduct. President Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon made him immune to any form of prosecution for his acts in office, and most people believed that President Ford took this action out of loyalty to the man who served above him when Ford was Vice-President. ^[6] It appears that that President Ford signed the bill into law as it would reassure the public that Ford really wanted to serve the interests of justice and at least hold Nixon accountable to the public as the result of the release of important documents from the Nixon Administration. ^[7]

Decision

The Supreme Court decided that the Presidential Recordings and Material Preservation Act was constitutional, and it ruled in favor of the Administrator of General Services in a 7-2 vote. Those dissenting with this landmark decision were Chief Justice Warren Burger and Justice William Rehnquist. Rehnquist vigorously argued that under the provisions of the Act, all presidential papers could be seized by Congress at any time, and the Act was thus excessive. Burger asserted that the Administrator was not justified in engaging in such an invasion of privacy with respect to a President’s documents. In addition, Burger contended that the Administrator was also encroaching on President Nixon’s Executive Privilege and that this Act amounted to an unconstitutional Bill of Attainder.

The Supreme Court rejected all the claims that Nixon was making in his lawsuit against the Administrator of General Services. The Court rejected Nixon’s claim that the Act violates the presidential privilege of confidentiality, finding that the government archivists that would review Nixon’s documents and tape recordings had done so with other presidents. These archivists have reviewed other presidents’ papers without violating the confidentiality of communications between presidents and their advisers. In fact, the past work by government archivists has not harmed the institution of the presidency. Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s majority decision stated that the review of documents by government archivist would be no more of an intrusion than an in camera inspection of documents permitted under the Supreme Court’s majority decision in United States v. Nixon. ^[8] The Court further ruled that the Act does not invade Richard Nixon’s right of privacy because there would be limited intrusion through the screening of his documents, the public has a legitimate reason to want to know more about the President’s historical documents (as he is a public figure), and the impossibility of separating the small amount of private materials without first thoroughly screening all of his documents. ^[9] This Supreme Court determined that Richard Nixon’s privacy rights are still protected under the Act, and that his complaints about his lack of privacy were overstated.

The Court found that the Act does not interfere with President Nixon’s First Amendment rights of association. Further, the Court determined that the federal government has compelling reasons to preserve Nixon’s Presidential materials, and archival screening is the least restrictive way to review presidential materials and to return private papers to the president. Finally, the Act does not violate the Bill of Attainder clause of the Constitution because this Act does not convict former President Nixon of a crime and does not expose him to prosecution. The Court commented that Congress was justified in approving the Act because Congress believed Nixon was a President who could serve as an example for future presidents. The Court determined that the purpose of this Act was not to punish President Nixon, but simply to legislate a policy that had a purpose of preserving important historical artifacts and presidential records.

References

1. ^ "OCL Says same Notifications in Security Appeals May Violate Separation of Powers". law professors.typepad.com. http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/executive_privilege/. Retrieved 10/27/11. 
2. ^ "Presidential Papers: A Property Issue". Chicago Journals. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4307432. Retrieved 4 November 2011. 
3. ^ "Nixon v. Administrator of General Services – Case Brief – Nixon Tapes". lawnix.com. http://www.lawnix.com/cases/nixon-gsa.html. Retrieved 10/26/11. 
4. ^ "Nixon v. Administrator of General Services – Case Brief – Nixon Tapes". lawnix.com. http://www.lawnix.com/cases/nixon-gsa.html. Retrieved 10/26/11. 
5. ^ "Nixon v. Administrator of General Services – Case Brief – Nixon Tapes". lawnix.com. http://www.lawnix.com/cases/nixon-gsa.html. Retrieved 10/26/11. 
6. ^ "OCL Says same Notifications in Security Appeals May Violate Separation of Powers". law professors.typepad.com. http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/executive_privilege/. Retrieved 10/27/11. 
7. ^ "OCL Says same Notifications in Security Appeals May Violate Separation of Powers". law professors.typepad.com. http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/conlaw/executive_privilege/. Retrieved 10/27/11. 
8. ^ "Executive Order 13233 - Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act". National Archives. http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/appendix/13233.html. Retrieved 10/25/11. 
9. ^ "Executive Order 13233 - Further Implementation of the Presidential Records Act". National Archives. http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/appendix/13233.html. Retrieved 10/25/11.