Us. V. Nixon Court Case
US v. Nixon (1974)
1. The Constitutional Question(s) :
a) Does the separation of powers established by the Constitution grant the President the absolute power to keep information from other branches of the government?
b) Given that the power is not absolute, should President Nixon be capable of claiming executive privilege under the aforementioned circumstances?
c) Does the separation of powers permit that the settlement of this dispute must stay contained in the executive branch or should it be determined by the judicial branch?
d) Does the claim of executive privilege break the precedent set by the 5h Amendment, which ensures due process?
2. Background Information :
• The start of the 1970s was a period of inclining distrust in the National Government. The Pentagon Papers revealed the government’s purposeful deception of the actions undergoing in Vietnam and the American people realized that they’d been deceived. Americans were in shock when the National Guard engaged in opened fire at the scene of a Kent State University protest resulting from President Nixon's authorization for the United States to attack Cambodia. A total of four students were killed in the process. Nixon then attempted to cover up illegal actions by himself and his administration which further angered the American people. In June 1972, five men sporting cameras and bugging equipment were charged with arrest within the Democratic National Committee's offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Soon after the authorities discovered that the burglars were employed, directly or indirectly, for the Committee to Re-Elect the President. President Nixon and heads of his campaign denied any and all connections with the incident. The five men were then convicted of burglary, including E. Howard Hunt, Jr., a former Nixon aide, and G. Gordon Liddy, a lawyer purposed for the Committee to Re-elect the President. Shortly after the incident, the presiding judge received a letter written by
1. The Constitutional Question(s) :
a) Does the separation of powers established by the Constitution grant the President the absolute power to keep information from other branches of the government?
b) Given that the power is not absolute, should President Nixon be capable of claiming executive privilege under the aforementioned circumstances?
c) Does the separation of powers permit that the settlement of this dispute must stay contained in the executive branch or should it be determined by the judicial branch?
d) Does the claim of executive privilege break the precedent set by the 5h Amendment, which ensures due process?
2. Background Information :
• The start of the 1970s was a period of inclining distrust in the National Government. The Pentagon Papers revealed the government’s purposeful deception of the actions undergoing in Vietnam and the American people realized that they’d been deceived. Americans were in shock when the National Guard engaged in opened fire at the scene of a Kent State University protest resulting from President Nixon's authorization for the United States to attack Cambodia. A total of four students were killed in the process. Nixon then attempted to cover up illegal actions by himself and his administration which further angered the American people. In June 1972, five men sporting cameras and bugging equipment were charged with arrest within the Democratic National Committee's offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Soon after the authorities discovered that the burglars were employed, directly or indirectly, for the Committee to Re-Elect the President. President Nixon and heads of his campaign denied any and all connections with the incident. The five men were then convicted of burglary, including E. Howard Hunt, Jr., a former Nixon aide, and G. Gordon Liddy, a lawyer purposed for the Committee to Re-elect the President. Shortly after the incident, the presiding judge received a letter written by