Supreme Court Case

The President’s counsel urged two grounds. The first ground was for confidentiality of the information transmitted between the high-ranking officials and the people that advise and assist them. The second ground was that the claim rests on the doctrine of separation of powers and that protects the president” from a judicial subpoena in an ongoing criminal prosecution” (Nixon at 238). Nevertheless, the desire for confidently between high-ranking officials and the doctrine of separation of powers “can sustain an absolute, unqualified Presidential privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances. However, when the general public is interested in those conversations different values arises” (Nixon at 238). The reason why is …show more content…
The United States has elected an adversary system, in which its one party versus another party. Therefore, “the adversary system of the criminal system allows the parties to to contest all issues. The integrity of the judicial system and public confidence depends on the ability of the parties to tell all the relevant facts, within the framework of the rules of evidence” (Nixon at 238). In this case the President challenged a subpoena but because the materials were to be used in a criminal case, due process prevailed. Therefore, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the District Court. The Supreme Court was cautious in formulating their opinion because they did not want to answer the political question raised between Congress and the Executive Branch, which the Supreme Court is against …show more content…
Purposivists look at, congressional records, legislative and statutory history and social conditions in making their decisions on the issue discussed. The reasoning being that I would want to look at case history and social conditions, to see the precedent of previous court decisions on cases that involved executive privilege. When Nixon filed his motion to dismiss the subpoena, he did not claim that the information would put in danger general public. In accordance with all that research, I would have decided that Nixon needed to abdicate the tapes because the due process of a citizen and the right of a fair and speedy trial triumphs executive privilege. The doctrine of separation of powers does allow each branch to conduct its business without being interfered by the other branches but the other branches do have the authority to check each others actions when it violates the Constitution or the duty of a