Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.

Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Supreme Court of the United States
Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary
Docket number: 19-1328
Term: 2020
Court: United States Supreme Court
Important dates
November 20, 2020: Removed from argument calendar
Court membership
Chief Justice John G. Roberts • Clarence Thomas • Stephen Breyer • Samuel Alito • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan • Neil Gorsuch • Brett Kavanaugh


Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary is a case that was scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court of the United States during the court's October 2020-2021 term. The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. It concerned the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and whether an impeachment trial conducted by the U.S. Senate counts as a judicial proceeding for the purposes of disclosing secret grand jury information.[1]

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The case: The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary requested access to secret grand jury materials referenced in Robert Mueller's report about his investigation into potential Russian interference in the 2016 election. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreed to disclose the materials, ruling that a potential U.S. Senate impeachment trial counted as a judicial proceeding that allowed disclosure of secret grand jury materials. The D.C. Circuit affirmed the lower court's decision.[1]
  • The issue: Whether an impeachment trial before a legislative body is a “judicial proceeding” under Rule 6(e)(3)(E)(i) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
  • The outcome: The U.S. Supreme Court removed the case from its argument calendar.


    • You can review the lower court's opinion here.

    Timeline

    The following timeline details key events in this case:

    • November 20, 2020: The U.S. Supreme Court removed the case from its December argument calendar. Oral arguments had been scheduled for December 2, 2020.[2]
    • July 2, 2020: The court agreed to hear the case.
    • June 1, 2020: The U.S. Department of Justice, the petitioner, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
    • March 10, 2020: The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a ruling that the House Judiciary Committee could obtain redacted grand jury materials referenced in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report.[3]

    Background

    House Judiciary Committee requests grand jury materials related to investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election

    In July 2019, the House Committee on the Judiciary asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for permission to view secret grand jury proceedings that were redacted from Robert Mueller's March 2019 report following the conclusion of his investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The committee argued that a potential impeachment trial for President Donald Trump gave them the authority to view the unredacted grand jury materials under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The court agreed with the committee and ruled in favor of disclosing the grand jury materials.[1]

    D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirms lower court decision to disclose grand jury materials

    On March 10, 2020, a panel of judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed the decision to allow the House Committee on the Judiciary to view the unredacted grand jury materials. The majority of the panel ruled that the lower court's order to release the grand jury materials was acceptable "because a Senate impeachment trial qualifies as a 'judicial proceeding' pursuant to Rule 6(e) [of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure] and the Committee has established a particularized need for the requested portions of grand jury materials."[3]

    U.S. Department of Justice appeals decision to the U.S. Supreme Court

    On June 1, 2020, U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco filed a petition on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.[1] Francisco argued that an impeachment trial conducted by elected members of the U.S. Senate should not qualify as a judicial proceeding that triggers the exception to keeping grand jury materials secret. He argued that treating Senate impeachment trials as judicial proceedings "raises substantial separation-of-powers concerns, and is in serious tension with this Court’s precedents."[1]

    Questions presented

    The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:

    Questions presented:

    Whether an impeachment trial before a legislative body is a “judicial proceeding” under Rule 6(e)(3)(E)(i) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.[4]

    Oral argument

    On November 20, 2020, the court granted the House Judiciary Committee's motion to remove the case from its December argument calendar. Oral arguments had initially been scheduled for December 2, 2020.[2]

    The House Judiciary Committee had asked the court to recalendar arguments following the 2020 presidential and Congressional elections. The committee wrote, "A new Congress will convene in the first week of January 2021, and President-elect Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021. Once those events occur, the newly constituted Committee will have to determine whether it wishes to continue pursuing the application for the grand-jury materials that gave rise to this case."[5]

    The U.S. Department of Justice responded that it did not object to the motion.[6]

    Outcome

    The U.S. Supreme Court removed the case from its argument calendar.

    October term 2020-2021

    The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 5, 2020. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.[7]

    The court issued 67 opinions during its 2020-2021 term. Two cases were decided in one consolidated opinion. Ten cases were decided without argument. Click here for more information on the court's opinions.

    The court agreed to hear 62 cases during its 2020-2021 term. Of those, 12 were originally scheduled for the 2019-2020 term but were delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Five cases were removed from the argument calendar.


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 U.S. Supreme Court, Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary, "Petition for Certiorari," accessed July 3, 2020
    2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Supreme Court of the United States, "Order List: 592 U.S.," accessed November 20, 2020
    3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Comm. on Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives v. U.S. Dep't of Justice (In re Comm. on Judiciary), decided March 10, 2020
    4. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary, "Questions presented," accessed July 3, 2020
    5. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary: "Motion to recalendar argument," November 17, 2020
    6. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, Department of Justice v. House Committee on the Judiciary: "Response to motion to recalendar argument," November 19, 2020
    7. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court," accessed April 20, 2015
    Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Department_of_Justice_v._House_Committee_on_the_Judiciary&oldid=8891878"