US V. Nixon
By Paul Ziarko
Background
The Watergate scandal occurred in 1972,
during which a group of men broke into the
democratic headquarters in the Watergate
hotel, as time passed it was revealed by the
Washington post through a tip from “deep
throat” that the men that broke into the
Watergate hotel were men that had
connections to Nixon's campaign.
Main Issue
The purpose of this trial was to have Nixon
subpoenaed into handing over recordings of
conversations held in the White House that
may have had connections to Watergate,
however Nixon argued that he didn’t have to
turn over the documents because of his
“Executive Privileges.”
Outcome as stated by chief justice
Burger
"Neither the doctrine of separation of powers, nor the
need for confidentiality of high-level communications,
without more, can sustain an absolute, unqualified
Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process
under all circumstances. The President's need for
complete candor and objectivity from advisers calls for
great deference from the courts. However, when the
privilege depends solely on the broad, undifferentiated
claim of public interest in the confidentiality of such
conversations, a confrontation with other values
arises."--Chief Justice Warren Burger
Decision
The outcome of the supreme court case was a
unanimous 8-0 decision (8-0 because justice
William Rehnquist recused himself) against
Nixon, required him to turn the tapes over to
investigators, and determined that if the
president is subpoenaed for items that will
not put the nation’s defense in jeopardy he
must turn them over and can not be protected
by executive privilege.
Works Cited
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http://www.mentalfloss.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/nixon-v.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Nixon
http://mustseedc.com/attractions/watergate-complex.jpg
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1974/1974_73_1766#sort=vote
http://gracetoanderson.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/warrenburger.png
• http://www.fact-index.com/u/un/united_states_v__nixon.html