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147-418: While the most prominent special prosecutors have been those appointed since the 1870s to investigate presidents and those connected to them, the term can also be used to refer to any prosecutor appointed to avoid a conflict of interest or appearance thereof. The concept originates in state law: "state courts have traditionally appointed special prosecutors when the regular government attorney was disqualified from

294-587: A Watergate special prosecutor, and so immediately on taking office appointed Archibald Cox under a special one-time regulation. As part of his investigation, in July of that year, Cox first requested and then subpoenaed the Nixon White House tapes ; secret recordings Nixon had made of conversations in the Oval Office and elsewhere. The Nixon administration refused to produce the tapes citing executive privilege , and

441-524: A "sweetheart" deal in Delaware where he was facing several criminal charges relates to tax evasion and firearm offenses. On 15 July 2024, federal judge Aileen Cannon , in a 93-page ruling, ruled that Jack Smith's appointment and funding were both unconstitutional under Article I, Section 9, Clause 7, of the US Constitution , which prohibits appropriations except when authorized by law. She also ruled that it

588-585: A Republican) to investigate allegations of bribery at the Post Office Department. In 1905, Roosevelt's attorney general, Philander Knox , appointed Francis Heney as a special prosecutor to investigate the Oregon land fraud scandal . In 1924, Calvin Coolidge appointed two special counsels from the two major parties of the time, Atlee Pomerene (a Democrat ) and Owen Roberts (a Republican ), to investigate

735-408: A case, whether for incapacitation or interest." Because district attorneys' offices work closely with police, some activists argue that cases of police misconduct at the state and local level should be handled by special prosecutors. The terms 'special prosecutor', 'independent counsel', and 'special counsel' have the same fundamental meaning, and their use (at least at the federal level in the U.S.)

882-652: A clerk with United States District Court Judge Learned Hand . After a year in New York City, Cox accepted an associate position with the Boston law firm of Ropes, Gray, Best, Coolidge and Rugg . After World War II began, Cox took a position in the United States Solicitor General's office. By 1943, Cox had advanced to become Assistant Solicitor of the Labor Department. As associate solicitor, Cox' job in

1029-419: A conflict of interest arises or to avoid even the appearance such a conflict exists. In local state governments, special prosecutors are appointed by a judge, government official, organization, company or group of citizens to prosecute violations of law committed by one or more governmental agents and procure indictments for actions taken under color of state law. Unlike in courts having federal jurisdiction, where

1176-465: A new special prosecutor had already been appointed, the case was already moot when decided, and the decision was never appealed past the district court . Jaworski continued Cox's pursuit of the White House tapes, but Nixon resisted. He raised separation of powers questions under the U.S. Constitution. Since the special counsel is a member of the executive branch , Nixon argued that the special counsel

1323-636: A new special prosecutor, James Broadhead , to continue the investigation. In 1881, James Garfield appointed the next special prosecutor, William Cook, to investigate the Star route scandal . Cook continued his investigation into the Chester Arthur administration. From 1901 to 1909, during the Theodore Roosevelt administration, special prosecutors were appointed to investigate two scandals. In 1903, Roosevelt appointed two special prosecutors (a Democrat and

1470-417: A particular matter, but the decision of whether or not to appoint the independent counsel remained with the attorney general and was not reviewable in court. If the attorney general decided not to appoint an independent counsel in response to such a request, they were only required to respond in writing with the reasons. Although the decision to appoint a special prosecutor was still made by the attorney general,

1617-517: A private restaurant that rented space in a building owned by the state of Delaware , confronted the Court squarely with the limitations on the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of "equal protection of the laws" – erected by the so-called Civil Rights Cases of 1883, which held that the constitutional guarantee only applied against "state action." Cox persuaded the Court that the fact that the business

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1764-633: A seat on the NLRB or a second echelon position in the Department of Labor . Neither position offered new challenges for him, but he worried about the propriety of refusing. Before leaving for his family Christmas celebration in Windsor, Cox was tipped off by Anthony Lewis of the Times that he had been chosen for Solicitor General. Cox decided that if this was true, he would tell the president-elect that he needed time to think

1911-546: A special counsel rests with the attorney general (or acting attorney general). The current special counsel regulations specify that: The Attorney General, or in cases in which the Attorney General is recused, the Acting Attorney General, will appoint a Special Counsel when he or she determines that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted and— The attorney general sets the subject jurisdiction of

2058-401: A top priority was to hire a pre-eminent criminal trial attorney to supervise the prosecutors until the office was up and running and then try the cases after indictment. He persuaded James F. Neal , the U.S. attorney who obtained the conviction of Jimmy Hoffa in 1964 for jury tampering, now in private practice, to come aboard for several weeks to stabilize the ship. Neal would stay to the end, at

2205-425: A view toward establishing better relations with the press, Cox designated James Doyle his spokesman. The Special Prosecutor's office had to catch up with the federal prosecutors. The Senate Watergate committee was in competition for Dean's testimony, and leaks suggested they were about to get it. On June 3, published reports said that Dean would testify that he had spoken to the president about Watergate 35 times. On

2352-412: A written request for eight specific tapes. On July 23, Wright responded in writing denying the request on grounds of executive privilege and separation of powers. That evening Cox had a grand jury subpoena demanding the eight tapes and three other items served on Buzhardt who accepted on behalf of the president. On July 26, Chief Judge John J. Sirica received a letter from Nixon himself responding to

2499-543: Is as follows: This article about a law book of the United States is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Archibald Cox Archibald Cox Jr. (May 17, 1912 – May 29, 2004) was an American legal scholar who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy and as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal . During his career, he was a pioneering expert on labor law and

2646-501: Is extraordinarily arrogant." After he was sworn in on May 25, 1973, Cox returned to Cambridge where he recruited two professors, James Vorenberg and Philip Heymann , to join his staff. The three arrived in Washington on May 29. Cox was faced with reports that the team of federal prosecutors under Earl J. Silbert was about to resign unless given a vote of confidence. Cox appealed to their sense of professionalism without comment on how

2793-580: Is generally differentiated by the time period to which they are being applied. The term 'special prosecutor' was used throughout the Watergate era, but was replaced by the less confrontational 'independent counsel' in the 1983 reauthorization of the Ethics in Government Act. Those appointed under that act after 1983 are generally referred to as 'independent counsels'. Since the independent counsel law expired in 1999,

2940-530: Is one of fifty titles comprising the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), containing the principal set of rules and regulations issued by federal agencies regarding judicial administration. It is available in digital and printed form, and can be referenced online using the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR). The table of contents, as reflected in the e-CFR updated March 4, 2014,

3087-542: Is plainly true that we put upon the Supreme Court the burden of deciding cases that would never come before the judicial branch in any other country. During the customary introduction of the Solicitor General to the members of the Court, Justice Frankfurter had an extended talk with his former student. The justice advised Cox that the first case to argue should be something involving criminal law. Cox gave due weight to

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3234-504: Is ultimately answerable to the president and that the president could not be compelled by a subpoena issued by his own subordinate. The tapes were ultimately released following the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Nixon . Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, and Jaworski resigned about two and a half months later, to be replaced by his (and Cox's) deputy, Henry Ruth Jr.—who in turn resigned in 1975, leaving Charles Ruff

3381-628: The January 6 United States Capitol attack and handling of classified documents . On January 12, 2023, Garland appointed Robert Hur special counsel to investigate Joe Biden 's storage of classified materials. On August 11, 2023 Merrick Garland appointed David C. Weiss special counsel to investigate Joe Biden 's son Hunter Biden stemming from nearly five years of federal investigations into felony tax evasion, illegal foreign lobbying, money laundering, and other possible crimes. This development came shortly after Republicans alleged that Hunter received

3528-594: The NAACP Legal Defense Fund , sought near elimination of the "state action" doctrine, arguing that restaurants were like "common carriers", subject to the Fourteenth Amendment or that the mere act of enforcing a trespass law, used to further private discrimination, was itself sufficient "state action." Cox did not believe the Court would make so radical a break with eighty-year-old precedent, so in each case he argued on narrow grounds that did not require

3675-546: The Plumbers task force; Richard J. Davis would handle the task force investigating "dirty tricks;" Joseph J. Connolly headed up the force investigating the ITT antitrust settlement; and James Neal headed the largest group, the Watergate task force, which dealt with the cover up and included George Frampton , Richard Ben-Veniste , and Jill Wine Volner . Henry S. Ruth became Cox's deputy and Phil Lacovara became Cox's counsel. With

3822-525: The Saturday Night Massacre . Cox's firing produced a public relations disaster for Nixon and set in motion impeachment proceedings which ended with Nixon stepping down from the presidency. Cox returned to teaching, lecturing, and writing for the rest of his life, giving his opinions on the role of the Supreme Court in the development of the law and the role of the lawyer in society. Although he

3969-511: The Teapot Dome scandal . This appointment was unique in that it was mandated under a special Congressional joint resolution, and was subject to approval in the Senate, similar to a cabinet appointment. This process was unique in the history of federal special prosecutors. In 1952, Harry Truman appointed Newbold Morris as a "special assistant to the Attorney General" to investigate the corruption at

4116-464: The Times that the Cambridge group was "something 'much more talked about than fact.'" Cox would soon discover, however, that Sorensen always "was terribly worried about being cut out" and protected Kennedy from independent advice, including Cox'. After Kennedy's election in 1960, despite publicly downplaying the idea that he was being considered for public office, Cox was concerned he might be offered

4263-579: The Whitewater controversy , the latter of which ultimately led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal . Numerous smaller investigations into cabinet secretaries for relatively minor offenses, such as drug use, were also carried out by independent counsels during this period. During the period 1992–1994 when the independent counsel provisions were not in force, Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Robert Fiske special counsel to investigate

4410-406: The Whitewater controversy . When the law was reauthorized in 1994, Reno invoked it to order an independent counsel be appointed to investigate Whitewater, and suggested Fiske continue in that role. Instead, Ken Starr was given the job by the three-judge panel. Starr resigned and was replaced by Robert Ray in 1999 just before the expiration of the independent counsel statute. Ray formally concluded

4557-464: The casebook method of legal study. Professor (and later United States Associate Justice) Felix Frankfurter wrote them a congratulatory note on their betrothal, which exclaimed: "My God, what a powerful legal combination!" Cox graduated in 1937 magna cum laude , one of nine receiving the highest honor awarded by the law school that year. Two weeks before his commencement, Cox and Phyllis married. Moving to New York City after law school, Cox served as

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4704-429: The 2016 presidential election by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein after the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions . In December 2020, Attorney General William Barr revealed to Congress that John Durham 's investigation had been granted special counsel status on October 19. On November 18, 2022, Attorney General Garland named Jack Smith special counsel to investigate Donald Trump 's actions regarding

4851-623: The Bureau of Internal Revenue following Congressional pressure and calls for a special prosecutor. After Morris submitted a lengthy questionnaire on personal finances to be completed by all senior executive officers, he was fired by Attorney General Howard McGrath , who was in turn fired by the president. Following the appointment of a new attorney general, the investigation was continued through regular channels. Before his May 25, 1973 appointment as Richard Nixon 's attorney general, Elliott Richardson had agreed at his Senate confirmation hearing to appoint

4998-426: The Cambridge area" and then "ride herd over twenty or thirty college professors" in their activities for him. Cox brought a number of eminent policy experts in a number of fields into contact with Kennedy. Although many were skeptical of his candidacy and some had been loyal to or inclined towards either Adlai Stevenson or Hubert Humphrey , Kennedy won them over at a meeting in Boston's Harvard Club on January 24. In

5145-473: The Chief did was take your brief and turn it upside down and write exceptions to the one-person one-vote that covered all the cases that you had attempted to exclude by this complicated formula.". The case was Reynolds v. Sims , 377 U.S. 533 (1964), holding that election districts must be roughly proportional to population. According to columnist William V. Shannon , President Kennedy had planned to appoint Cox to

5292-602: The Civil Rights Division Burke Marshall , however founded the legislation on Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce . Although both John and Robert Kennedy questioned the optics of using the Commerce Clause, they did not object. Cox had no difficulty having the Court uphold the statute on that basis when he argued the cases in October. After a landslide election victory, Johnson used his State of

5439-487: The Code of Federal Regulations, Title 28, part 600 (28 CFR §600). The regulations restrict the power to fire the special counsel into the hands of the attorney general alone, and they forbid the firing of the special counsel without good cause. They are internal Department of Justice regulations deriving their power from various acts of Congress, codified at U.S. Code, Title 28, section 510 and 515 (28 U.S.C. 510 and 515). Congress has

5586-515: The Court requested briefing in 1962 on the "state action" doctrine in Bell v. Maryland . Cox took a slightly more advanced position, arguing that where trespass laws were used to prosecute civil rights demonstrators in states such as Maryland, where there was a history of racial segregation by custom and law, then the discrimination was part of the enforcement sufficient to invoke state action. Although even this position disappointed civil rights activists and

5733-479: The Court to overrule the Civil Rights Cases, and each case he won on those grounds, in the process infuriating Jack Greenberg, who was arguing in those very cases for the broader approach. The cautious approach, however, garnered Cox much credibility with the Court, which came to realize that he was not going to lead them into areas with uncertain future consequences. After a number of these cases, however, even

5880-628: The FBI's handling of the Waco siege . In 2003, during the George W. Bush administration, Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed special counsel to investigate the Plame affair by Deputy Attorney General James Comey after the recusal of Attorney General John Ashcroft . On May 17, 2017, former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to take over the previous FBI investigation of Russian interference in

6027-551: The Harvard Law School offered to hire Cox as a probationary teacher in the fall of 1945. Cox accepted, despite the substantial cut in salary he would take, but on the condition that he would not have to teach corporations or property. Landis agreed; his expectation was that Cox should become a nationally recognized expert in labor law . In addition to labor law , Cox started out teaching torts . Later he would also teach unfair competition , agency and administrative law . He

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6174-549: The Justice Department, it prevailed, but in the face of three dissents (including that of Justice Black), suggesting that a broader rule might have been rejected by a majority. The issue would be mooted by legislation dealing with "public accommodations", which Cox helped draft and defended before the Court in 1965. The cases that troubled Cox the most during his tenure, and the area where he differed widest from Robert Kennedy, involved malapportionment of voting districts. Over

6321-562: The Labor Department was to supervise enforcement at the District Court level of federal labor statutes. Cox had a staff of eight lawyers in Washington and supervised the department's regional offices, including deciding when a regional attorney could bring suit. Most of the litigation involved wage and hours issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act . His background in the solicitor general's office also allowed him to handle much of

6468-696: The Los Angeles Convention Kennedy, now the nominee, asked Cox to move to Washington to have an expanded role, hiring speechwriters and coordinating academic talent. Cox accepted, and then Kennedy point blank asked Cox if he thought he could get along with Ted Sorensen and explained "Sorensen's fear that somebody was going to elbow his way in between him and Kennedy." Cox assumed he could. Cox had been unaware that Sorensen had already been at work, back in February, trying to compartmentalize and minimize Cox' group's efforts. Sorenen told Joseph A. Loftus of

6615-628: The Petersen document concerning his meeting with Nixon; Petersen's memorandum to Haldeman summarizing the same meeting; and the tape of the conversation between Nixon and Dean mentioned by Petersen from the same meeting. Vorenberg added a request for all logs between the president and key aides from June 1972 to May 1973. Buzhardt said that only the president could determine what he would produce. Garment and Wright argued about executive privilege, which Wright said applied not only to presidential documents but ones of his aides such as Haldeman and Ehrlichman. As for

6762-472: The Senate. The relevance of other tapes could be inferred from the proximity of meetings to Watergate-related events. Cox believed he could maximize his chance for a favorable ruling by limiting the scope of his initial request to material arguably important to the criminal proceedings. Once he obtained a ruling that executive privilege gave way to a compelling need in a criminal prosecution, he could ask for additional material later. So on July 18 Cox sent Buzhardt

6909-491: The Special Counsel in writing of the specific reason for their removal. Since the expiration of the independent counsel provisions in the Ethics in Government Act in 1999, as was the case before 1978, neither Congress nor the courts have any official role in the appointment of a special counsel; however, Congress can use other powers to pressure an administration into appointing a special counsel. This happened, for example, in

7056-586: The Special Prosecutor Act and later renamed the Independent Counsel Act, which established formal rules for the appointment of a special prosecutor. The appointment of special prosecutors varied in important ways from appointments made before and since. Majorities of either party within the House or Senate Judiciary Committee could formally request the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor on

7203-483: The Special Prosecutor would uncover illegal contributions by Ashland Oil, Gulf Oil, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, Phillips Petroleum, and Braniff Airlines. While the center of media attention was on the cover up, by January, according to a Harris survey, 81% of Americans believed "illegal corporate money-givers" were "harmful to the country." Herb Kalmbach, especially of interest to

7350-491: The Supreme Court happened on May 1, 1968. Cox would become the primary counsel for Thompson during the rehearing on the 23-24th of October 23-24th 1968. Edward Sparer, considered the 'father of welfare law' personally brought in Cox as the lead attorney for the rehearing in 1968. Jacqueline Jones, a social historian, articulates that Archibald Cox's involvement with this case was coordinated. Sparer brought in Cox's legal assistance as he

7497-431: The Supreme Court. " Even critic Victor Navasky wrote that Cox was "by general agreement one of the most distinguished Solicitors General in the history of the office … ." As Solicitor General Cox personally argued 67 cases before the Court, prevailing in 81%. A study of the eight Solicitors General between 1953 and 1982 found that Cox was the most liberal, filing liberal briefs in 77% of the cases. Supreme Court litigation

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7644-499: The Union address in January 1965 to, among other things, promise a voting rights act. It was Cox who developed the first draft. The mechanism devised by Cox was to provide for a presumption of illegality of a list of practices including literacy tests and similar devices if the state had a history of low minority voter turn-out as shown by voter statistics. In such cases the burden was shifted to

7791-526: The Whitewater investigation in 2003. Since the expiration of the independent counsel statute in 1999, there has been no federal statutory law governing the appointment of a special counsel. Upon the law's expiration in 1999, the Justice Department, under Attorney General Janet Reno, promulgated procedural regulations governing the appointment of special counsels. In 1999, these regulations were used by Reno to appoint John Danforth special counsel to investigate

7938-640: The actual selection of the special prosecutor was made by a three-judge panel called the Special Division, selected from the Courts of Appeals. The law did not allow special prosecutors to be removed except under specific circumstances such as wrongdoing or incapacitation. The special prosecutor provisions in the bill were temporary but were reauthorized by Congress in 1983 and 1987, expiring five years later in 1992; they were reinstated for another five years in 1994 before expiring again in 1999. The constitutionality of

8085-621: The appellate work. By virtue of his position, Cox also occasionally sat as an alternative public member of the Wage Adjustment Board, which dealt with the construction industry and attempted to maintain labor peace by mediating non-wage disputes and setting prevailing wage rates and increases under the Davis–Bacon Act . After WWII was over, Cox returned to the law firm Ropes, Gray with the intention of spending his professional career there. Instead, he lasted five weeks. Dean Landis of

8232-495: The appointment of Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox; senators secured a promise from Attorney General nominee Richardson to appoint a Watergate special prosecutor as a condition of his confirmation. Congress also has independent authority to investigate the president and their close associates through Congressional hearings as part of its government oversight role. Special prosecutors are appointed in state court with greater frequency than federal, and most often in cases where

8379-451: The arguments on this issue made by Supreme Court associate justice Clarence Thomas in his concurrence in the Trump v. United States case decided two weeks earlier. The 1988 Supreme Court case Morrison v. Olson had upheld appointment of special counsels, calling them "inferior officers" and not "officers". Cannon discussed that case, however, arguing that it no longer had any applicability, on

8526-425: The attorney general (or acting attorney general) from using their statutory authority to appoint a special counsel by other means, as has happened twice. Despite the passage of the Ethics in Government Act the previous year, Paul Curran was appointed to investigate Jimmy Carter's peanut business in 1979 under the attorney general's statutory authority (and was selected by him rather than by a three-judge panel as under

8673-440: The attorney general" on any matter being investigated. The White House thus lost its access to the investigation. In addition, the Special Prosecutor was granted the right to discuss his findings and progress with the press at his discretion. Finally, Cox could be dismissed only by Richardson and only for "extraordinary improprieties"—a standard virtually impossible to meet. The importance of the selection to Richardson's confirmation

8820-402: The best man for the job, because once Cox cleared the president there would be no hint that he colluded with Nixon or even that he was sympathetic. Richardson had perhaps been misled about what his assignment was (and what the president's true intentions were) when the president instructed him the night Kleindienst was dismissed to "get to the bottom of it" "no matter who[m] it hurts." Richardson

8967-605: The bill that became the Landrum–Griffin Act that would initiate the new framework. In 1953 the young and ambitious John F. Kennedy , new to the Senate, decided that labor relations would be the area that he would specialize in to begin building a policy and legislative resume for use in future political endeavors. He wrote to Cox in March 1953 inviting him to testify before the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Cox

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9114-399: The case was handled. A bigger problem was Silbert's boss, Henry E. Petersen , a career FBI/Justice Department employee appointed Assistant Attorney General by Nixon, who had regular meetings with Nixon, but would only provide vague descriptions to Cox, and point blank refused to turn over his memorandum of one such meeting, claiming executive privilege on behalf of Nixon. Cox concluded that

9261-427: The civil rights movement, led by James Farmer of CORE , initiated what would become a wave of non-violent confrontations against discrimination in public transit and other accommodations. The attorney general's office, under the personal supervision of Robert Kennedy, took active measures to protect the protestors in the face of local political and police indifference to or active complicity with violent resisters. Cox

9408-565: The constitutional differences of the composition between the Senate and House of Representatives through early American history. His advisor, Paul Buck , told him he did not "have brains enough" for the project. Cox took up the challenge and completed Senatorial Saucer. As a result of the work Cox was able to graduate with honors in History. Cox continued on to Harvard Law School in 1934. Cox thrived at law school, ranking first in his class of 593 at

9555-529: The constitutionality of federal campaign finance restrictions ( Buckley v. Valeo ) and the other the leading early case testing affirmative action ( Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ). Cox was born in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1912, the son of Archibald and Frances "Fanny" Bruen Perkins Cox, the eldest of seven children. His father Archibald Sr. (Harvard College, 1896; Harvard Law School, 1899 )

9702-486: The criminal law and Department of Justice policies. The Special Counsel shall be selected from outside the United States Government. Special Counsels shall agree that their responsibilities as Special Counsel shall take first precedence in their professional lives, and that it may be necessary to devote their full time to the investigation, depending on its complexity and the stage of the investigation. Generally,

9849-436: The deepest emotions. Their resolution—one way or the other often writes our future history. … Perhaps it is an exaggeration to suggest that in the United States we have developed an extraordinary facility for casting social, economic, philosophical, and political questions in the form of actions at law and suits in equity, and then turning around and having the courts decide them upon social, economic, and philosophical grounds. It

9996-458: The dispute was fought in court until October. After a Court of Appeals instructed the president to comply with the special prosecutor's subpoena, Nixon ordered the special prosecutor fired. In a constitutional crisis that became known as the Saturday Night Massacre , both the attorney general and deputy attorney general (who had both made promises regarding the special prosecutor in their Senate confirmation hearings) resigned rather than carry out

10143-469: The end of each promised period promising only a few more weeks; he became Cox's number two man, picked to be the chief trial attorney. Vorenberg became number three and spent much of the early period recruiting lawyers. Vorenberg divided the mission into five task forces: the first to sign on was Thomas F. McBride who would head up the task force on campaign contributions and would obtain the conviction of George Steinbrenner ; William Merril would head up

10290-475: The end of his first year. Cox's second year was taken up with work on the Harvard Law Review . He also met his future wife Phyllis Ames. Cox proposed to her after only three or four meetings. She initially put him off, but by March 1936 they were engaged. Phyllis, who graduated Smith the year before, was the granddaughter of James Barr Ames , one time dean of Harvard Law School and noted for popularizing

10437-440: The face of perceived popular disapproval. Shortly after their meeting, Cox announced a sudden press conference (unrelated to the discovery dispute). Buzhardt, thinking that Cox planned to go public with the dispute over the documents, called Vorenberg. Instead of discussing the press conference Vorenberg reminded Buzhardt of the documents requests. Buzhardt assured Vorenberg that a package would soon be delivered. Twenty minutes before

10584-533: The faculty. Given that the peak of his academic career also coincided with the enactment of the statutes that defined industrial relations, his work, usually the first on any new topic, shaped the Supreme Court's thinking. His one-time student and later colleague Derek Bok described this influence: In the 1950s, the National Labor Relations Act was still relatively new, and the Taft-Hartley Act

10731-442: The federal criminal investigation into the Watergate burglary and other related crimes that became popularly known as the Watergate scandal. He had a dramatic confrontation with Nixon when he subpoenaed the tapes the president had secretly recorded of his Oval Office conversations. When Cox refused a direct order from the White House to seek no further tapes or presidential materials, Nixon fired him in an incident that became known as

10878-496: The first presidentially-appointed special counsel in 1875. In 1875, Ulysses Grant appointed the first federal special prosecutor, John B. Henderson , to investigate the Whiskey Ring scandal. After attempting to stifle Henderson's investigation of the president's personal secretary, Grant fired Henderson on the grounds that Henderson's statements to a grand jury regarding Grant were impertinent. Following criticism, Grant appointed

11025-459: The follow-up cases, because he could not persuade himself that history or legal theory would demand a one-man-one-vote standard in all cases. He developed what he later called a "highly complex set of criteria," but in the end when the Court finally erected the one-man-one-vote standard it simply made the general rule subject to all the exceptions that Cox had tried to weave into his proposed standards. As Chief Justice Warren's clerk later told him "all

11172-455: The fourth and final Watergate special prosecutor. Acting under his existing appointment as Watergate special prosecutor, Ruff conducted an unrelated investigation into whether Gerald Ford had misused campaign funds while a congressman, clearing the new president of any wrongdoing. Inspired in part by Watergate, in 1978 Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act . Title VI of this act was known as

11319-490: The grounds that it concerned special counsels appointed under the special statutory authority of the Independent Counsels Act, which law Congress had since allowed to expire, and hence Smith's appointment was not made under it. In 1999, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Janet Reno promulgated regulations for the future appointment of special counsels. As of 2018, these regulations remain in effect in

11466-608: The illegal campaign contributions task force, was scheduled to testify before the Senate Watergate Committee on July 16. Instead, Haldeman's aide Col. Alexander Butterfield was inserted as a "mystery witness." During his 30-minute testimony he revealed the secret taping system that was installed in the Oval Office, the president's office at the Executive Office Building, and at Camp David)—a voice-activated mechanism designed to capture everything spoken by or to

11613-540: The issue of executive privilege and his entitlement to the documents, he had to fashion a reasonably specific subpoena that might be enforced in court. But he had no idea how the White House files were organized, so he scheduled a meeting with the president's counsel on June 6 to discuss his documents request. The president's new defense team was made up of one-time Democrat Leonard Garment , University of Texas constitutional law professor Charles Alan Wright , and Nixon true believer J. Fred Buzhardt . Cox made three requests:

11760-596: The judge said he hoped to have a decision within a week. On August 29, the court ordered the president to deliver all the material to him for review. The decision amounted to a rejection of Wright's absolutist argument. Although not a complete victory for Cox, Sirica ignored the national security argument, and the decision was widely considered as historic—the first time a court ordered a president to produce evidence since Chief Justice John Marshall in 1807 ordered President Thomas Jefferson to produce documents. The White House quickly announced that Nixon "will not comply with

11907-533: The law was affirmed by a 7–1 decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Morrison v. Olson . Roughly twenty special prosecutors (called independent counsels after 1983) were appointed under the Ethics in Government Act and its reauthorizations during the Jimmy Carter , Ronald Reagan , George H. W. Bush , and Bill Clinton administrations. These include significant investigations into the Iran–Contra affair and

12054-468: The law), ostensibly because the alleged wrongdoing preceded the passage of the act. Patrick Fitzgerald's appointment as special counsel in 2003 was specifically not made under the 28 CFR 600 regulation. The special counsel regulations specify that a special counsel must be a lawyer from outside the US government, while Fitzgerald was already a federal prosecutor at the time of his appointment. The decision to appoint

12201-564: The law. With a warm recommendation from the head-master (and family connections), Cox was able to enter Harvard College in 1930. At Harvard, Cox joined a final club , the Delphic Club , called the "Gashouse" for its parties, gambling and liquor (during Prohibition ). He majored in history, government and economics and did slightly better than "gentlemanly Cs." It was during the second semester of his freshman year that his father died, at age 56. For Cox's senior thesis he proposed analyzing

12348-578: The lawyers on his mother's side, his father (as Archibald Jr. reflected late in his life) did not participate much in public service, although he had "done a few things for Woodrow Wilson … at the time of the peace conference" and was president of the local Board of Education. He also served as a member of the New Jersey Rapid Transit Commission. Cox attended the private Wardlaw School , then located in Plainfield, New Jersey, until he

12495-431: The legislation successfully before the Court, but he did so as a private attorney. In the summer after Johnson's victory Cox offered his resignation in order that Johnson might pick his own Solicitor General if he chose. Although Cox dearly loved the job, he overrode Katzenbach's strong objections to his decision. Johnson accepted the resignation on June 25, 1965. Chief Justice Warren was "non-plussed and made unhappy by

12642-414: The lot of city-dwellers, minorities and the poor. The problem was that Justice Frankfurter had written in a plurality decision in 1946 that such issues amounted to a political question —a matter not appropriate for the Court to resolve. On the other hand, given that political interests were entrenched, and those with disproportionate power were not likely to give up their greater share, a political solution

12789-494: The matter being investigated and/or prosecuted. The choice of whom to appoint is to be made by the attorney general with the following guidelines: An individual named as Special Counsel shall be a lawyer with a reputation for integrity and impartial decisionmaking, and with appropriate experience to ensure both that the investigation will be conducted ably, expeditiously and thoroughly, and that investigative and prosecutorial decisions will be supported by an informed understanding of

12936-621: The matter over. But when Kennedy called, interrupting a family lunch, he accepted immediately. Cox was unaware until much later that his law school colleague, Paul Freund , whom he had recommended for the position, declined and recommended Cox in turn. Next month, Cox appeared before the Senate Judicial Committee for confirmation hearings, but his reputation was such that the hearing took only ten minutes; even minority leader Dirksen, who knew Cox from Landrum–Griffin days, said he "had been quite impressed with his legal abilities … ." In

13083-447: The maximum view of executive privilege. In response to a question by Chief Judge David L. Bazelon , Wright said that he could think of no circumstance that the tapes could be demanded by courts. He said, however, that the White House had made information available, waiving the privilege, but tapes constituted "the raw material of life," something essentially privileged. Wright maintained that the privilege survived even if abused, such as by

13230-437: The meetings covered by the tapes but refused to turn over the tapes themselves, which would be the better evidence of what transpired. As for the claim that the president could terminate his commission, Cox said (presciently in hindsight) that even if were true, then the president would have to accept the political repercussions that would follow exercising that power. After questioning Wright for about 17 minutes (and Cox only 8),

13377-523: The most-cited legal scholars of the twentieth century. The framework he developed, first in the two articles with Dunlop in 1950–51, then elaborated on his own, became the standard view of the Wagner and Taft-Hartley Acts. It assumed roughly equal bargaining power between union and management and interpreted the labor laws (often contrary to the language of the statutes themselves) to limit individual employee rights unless pursued by his bargaining agent, to restrict

13524-449: The nature of it is" despite Wright's full national security clearance. Wright said that the president's power was so inclusive that he could terminate the Special Prosecutor's office and have all the cases dismissed. Cox, on his turn, emphasized the peculiar situation here where there "is strong reason to believe the integrity of the executive office has been corrupted" and pointed out that the president had permitted his staff to testify about

13671-517: The nearly century-long period that the office had existed before Cox occupied it, the solicitor general, as the government's lawyer before the Supreme Court, was immensely influential. Cox held the position at a time when the Warren Court was about to involve the Court in issues never before considered appropriate for judicial review, at a time when the country was ready for the Court to decide various questions of social justice and individual rights. Cox

13818-470: The new president. On January 28, Cox urged the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that held that the federal government had no power to sue a state alleging violation of the Fifteenth Amendment by discriminatory devices aimed at African-Americans. Cox argued the narrow ground that the government had such power. When the Court expressly asked Cox whether he was asking the Court to strike down

13965-414: The news" that Cox was not reappointed. Senator Kennedy delivered a tribute from the well of the Senate. Even years later his colleagues in the Justice Department praised his service. John W. Douglas , for example, said "he was the best solicitor general that the department's ever had … ." John Seigenthaler likewise found him "great." Students of the office have agreed. Lincoln Caplan called him one of

14112-469: The next day the Deputy White House spokesman admitted that the two spoke frequently, but insisted that the discussions were in furtherance of the president's new determination to get to the bottom of the scandal. The spokesman admitted there were logs of all such conversations, but that they would not be turned over on the ground that they were covered by "executive privilege." Before Cox could litigate

14259-424: The next opening on the Supreme Court. After Kennedy's assassination, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach became Cox's direct superior. The first request of the acting Attorney General was that Cox accompany him to see the chief justice and request him to head a commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy. Cox was reluctant, believing that Warren should refuse

14406-475: The number was not large before the nomination, no other Democratic contender, not even Stevenson, had made an effort to recruit intellectual partisans. As with the case of Cox's informal group of labor advisors, Kennedy was anxious to use Cox's contacts not only for their expertise but also for the éclat they gave his campaign. A Congressional Quarterly article in April, widely reprinted in local papers, named Cox and

14553-488: The oath. It convinced Nixon that Cox saw his job as to bring down the president. Nixon now regarded him as a "partisan viper." Not long afterwards, Cox offended Senate Democrats as well by revealing at a press conference a letter requesting Senator Sam Ervin to cancel or at least postpone the Senate Watergate hearings so that he could familiarize himself with the proceedings. Ervin told the press: "Professor Cox's request

14700-527: The order to fire Cox. Solicitor General Robert Bork , who was third in line at the Department of Justice, then fired Cox. Initially, the Nixon White House announced that the office of the special prosecutor had been abolished, but after public outcry Nixon instead had Bork appoint Leon Jaworski as the second Watergate special prosecutor. The firing was ruled illegal in the case of Nader v. Bork , but, as

14847-484: The order." Wright said that they were considering an appeal, but the statement "hinted that they might find some other method of sustaining the president's legal position." The president did appeal, but to the public irritation of Wright, the Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the proceedings expedited, scheduling argument for the following week before the entire circuit. At the argument on September 11 Wright again took

14994-570: The other Cambridge advisors as a key to the kinds of policies Kennedy would advocate. "Of John F. Kennedy's political talents none has been more helpful to him than his ability to attract capable men to his cause," the Times said in the middle of the convention. The description of Cox's academic advisers was designed to recall Roosevelt's " Brain Trusts ": "More ideas poured in from Cambridge, Mass., where an astounding galaxy of scholars had made themselves an informal brain-trust for Senator Kennedy." After

15141-428: The oval office." Richardson was confirmed. The president publicly welcomed the selection and, consistent with his new public relations offensive, commended Richardson's "determination" to get to the bottom of the affair. Privately, Nixon seethed with anger. In his memoir he said: "If Richardson searched specifically for the man whom I least trusted, he could hardly have done better." Richardson, however, thought he had

15288-549: The period leading up to the Democratic Convention in July, Cox acted mainly as a "stimulator" to prod various academics to send memoranda to Kennedy or to find academics to supply Kennedy with policy positions on specific topics. While before the Convention, Cox had not recruited extensively beyond the Boston area, he had at least one recruit from the University of Colorado and recruited from Stanford . as well. Even though

15435-412: The position of Special Prosecutor in the Watergate affair . Cox had woken up that morning, the day before his 61st birthday, without hearing in his right ear (a condition his doctor would tell him a few days later was permanent), which dampened his enthusiasm for the job—the sensing of which, perhaps, increased Richardson's willingness to make concessions to obtain Cox's consent. Richardson, for his part,

15582-403: The power to directly limit the firing of special prosecutors or to delegate that power to the Attorney General. An agency regulation promulgated within the authority granted by statute has the force and effect of law, is binding upon the body that issues it, and can not be arbitrarily revoked. The existence of a law or regulations specifying the process to appoint a special counsel has not stopped

15729-430: The president engaging in fraud or other crime. Cox's approach, just as in the sit-in and reapportionment cases, was to avoid asserting a broad legal principle and instead show how the case was sui generis , unlikely to establish a precedent soon relied on, and one that fit easily within existing principles of administration of justice. Observers believed Cox had won. Instead, the Court's decision two days later (even before

15876-482: The president. The existence of the tapes was the biggest piece of evidence unearthed by the Senate Watergate Committee; around it much of the remainder of the cover-up case would revolve. The materiality of certain tapes was self-evident. Tapes of conversations testified to by John Dean would either show that Dean's account was accurate, in which case the president was complicit in obstruction of justice, or false, in which case Dean committed perjury in his testimony to

16023-521: The press conference, the package arrived containing the logs of presidential meetings and telephone conferences with key aides, including Dean, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman. The press conference took place and involved (as was originally planned) only an introduction to several new attorneys. The documents, however, together with the logs of Haldeman and Ehrlichman themselves proved essential to draft subpoenas sufficiently specific to elicit documents, and more crucially when their existence would later become known,

16170-472: The prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel." The current special counsel regulations specify that: The Special Counsel may be disciplined or removed from office only by the personal action of the Attorney General. The Attorney General may remove a Special Counsel for misconduct, dereliction of duty, incapacity, conflict of interest, or for other good cause, including violation of Departmental policies. The Attorney General shall inform

16317-402: The recommendation, but he met vigorous objections from his assistant Oscar Davis , who argued that civil rights was the most important legal issue facing the country and that Cox should signal in his first argued case the new administration's commitment to fight for it. Cox agreed and selected Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority . The case, brought by an African-American who was barred from

16464-421: The request, because it would have adverse impact on the Court. He agreed but asked that Katzenbach not have him try to persuade the chief justice. In the end Warren declined the request, and the two Justice employees left. Within an hour President Johnson called Warren, who capitulated. Warren said in 1969 that because of it, it became "the unhappiest year of my life." The civil rights legislation that Kennedy

16611-643: The response to them; they voted to request Sirica to issue an order to Nixon to show cause why there should not be prompt compliance with the subpoena. Sirica had the members individually polled and issued the order. Sirica allowed the parties a month to brief the issue, which came for a hearing on August 22. Wright took a broad, absolutist position claiming the president was the only person who could decide what materials to turn over to them. He relayed Nixon's feelings on national security, saying that Nixon told him that one tape had "national security information so highly sensitive that he did not feel free to hint to me what

16758-401: The special counsel him or herself decides when an investigation will terminate, with or without formal charges being pursued. The special counsel typically issues a final report on their investigation at this time. The current special counsel regulations specify that "At the conclusion of the Special Counsel's work, he or she shall provide the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining

16905-561: The special counsel: The jurisdiction of a Special Counsel shall be established by the Attorney General. The Special Counsel will be provided with a specific factual statement of the matter to be investigated. The jurisdiction of a Special Counsel shall also include the authority to investigate and prosecute federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, the Special Counsel's investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses; and to conduct appeals arising out of

17052-467: The state to prove nondiscriminatory intent. This mechanism remained the heart of the legislation throughout the legislative process. Both Ramsey Clark and Nicholas Katzenbach admired the mechanism for its legal craftsmanship and statecraft (because it avoided the need to prove intent to discriminate). Before the bill was submitted to Congress Cox answered a question in Court that was used by nationally syndicated columnist Drew Pearson to embarrass Cox before

17199-503: The statutes, Cox answered that he was not, only that the case be remanded to the three-court panel. The Court's opinion, delivered on March 8, highlighted this exchange in such a way that some inferred that Cox passed up a golden opportunity. Pearson's column stated that Cox had cost the civil rights movement two years in litigation, and for that he point blank suggested that Johnson replace Cox as solicitor general. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 mooted that case, and Cox would go on to defend

17346-521: The subjects on which management is required to bargain based on past practices, to permit unions to waive rights the statutes otherwise gave to employees and in general to advocate the notion that labor statutes should be interpreted to promote industrial peace over enhancing the economic power of labor. The framework remained the dominant view of federal labor relations until the late 1950s when concerns over member participation began to shape policy. It would be Cox and his work with Senator John F. Kennedy on

17493-451: The subpoena in which he asserted that it would be as inappropriate for the court to compel him as it would for him to compel the court. He was therefore not producing the tapes. But he included a copy of the March 30 memo concerning Hunt's employment and promised to make available the Strachan political documents concerning ambassadorships. Within an hour Cox was before the grand jury, explaining

17640-442: The tape of the April 15 Dean meeting, Buzhardt (falsely) suggested it was not a tape of the meeting but rather the president's later dictated tape about the meeting. No resolution was arrived at, but the president's lawyers did not reject the requests outright. The president's legal team employed an approach that would become familiar: state an overly broad position, equivocate, delay, and then abruptly make partial concessions in

17787-416: The tapes. By mid-June the office was fully functioning. Silbert's U.S. attorney's team was finally eased out on June 29, much to the chagrin of the federal prosecutors. The task force that was to show the first results was McBridge's campaign finance group. On July 6, American Airlines admitted that it made an illegal $ 55,000 campaign contribution to Nixon's personal lawyer Herb Kalmbach . Within two months

17934-432: The term 'special counsel' has been used. This is the term used in the current U.S. government regulations concerning the appointment of special counsels, such as Title 28 CFR . While the term 'special prosecutor' is sometimes used in historical discussions of such figures before 1983, the term 'special counsel' appears to have been frequently used as well, including, for example, in contemporary newspaper accounts describing

18081-422: The terms "special counsel" and "independent counsel" have a uniform definition, in state court meanings of legal terms continually vary, but with "special prosecutor" referencing the appointment of an attorney (supra) in contemplation of representation and prosecution of one or more government agent(s) for unlawful conduct. Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations CFR Title 28 - Judicial Administration

18228-417: The three most respected Solicitors General in history (together with Robert H. Jackson and John W. Davis ). Bruce Terris, who was Assistant Solicitor General in three administrations, said that he "was the best oral advocate I ever saw. … He had the ability to do something I had never seen anybody ever having the ability to do, and I suspect very few people ever had, and that was he had the ability to lecture

18375-438: The years failure to re-allocate voting districts particularly in state legislatures, produced wildly disproportionate districts, with rural areas having many fewer voters than urban districts as a result of the urbanization of America. The result was dilution of the urban vote with policy resulting accordingly; rectification would benefit Democrats politically, while malapportionment stood as an obstacle to legislation that improved

18522-717: Was "too soft—not nasty enough." James Doyle , a Washington Star reporter who would later become the chief press advisor for Cox's group, described his own first reaction to meeting Cox: "Prosecutors are supposed to have the instincts of a shark; this one seemed more like a dolphin." That Cox was insufficiently attuned to the politics of his situation was on show when he invited to his swearing-in Senator Ted Kennedy (the one Democrat whom Nixon loathed and feared) as well as Robert Kennedy's widow; had it take place in his old solicitor general's office; and had his old boss, President Roosevelt's Solicitor General Charles Fahy, administer

18669-542: Was a natural ally to seek out. He was one of Kennedy's constituents and a fellow Harvard alumnus. More importantly, he was a nationally recognized academic expert on labor law and a liberal Democrat with a predisposition towards labor. In the fall of 1959, after the work on the Landrum–Griffin Act had wound up, Kennedy confided to Cox that he was running for president. In January 1960, he wrote Cox formally asking him to head up his efforts to "tap intellectual talent in

18816-445: Was a state lessee as well as franchisee, was located in a parking complex developed by the state to promote business, and that the complex flew a Delaware flag in front of the building, all rendered the state a "joint participant" with the restaurant, sufficient to invoke the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court agreed. It was the beginning of the Court's dilution of the "state action" requirement in racial discrimination cases. By May 1961,

18963-544: Was also an authority on constitutional law . The Journal of Legal Studies has identified Cox as one of the most cited legal scholars of the 20th century. Cox was Senator John F. Kennedy 's labor advisor and in 1961, President Kennedy appointed him solicitor general, an office he held for four and a half years. Cox became famous when, under mounting pressure and charges of corruption against persons closely associated with Richard Nixon , Attorney General nominee Elliot Richardson appointed him as Special Prosecutor to oversee

19110-415: Was aware of the pivotal time the Court and he faced and explained it in an address right before the beginning of the first full Term he would argue in: [A]n extraordinarily large proportion of the most fundamental issues of our times ultimately go before the Supreme Court for judicial determination. They are the issues upon which the community, consciously or unconsciously, is most deeply divided. They arouse

19257-601: Was disallowed by Article II Section 2 Clause 2, which requires principal officers to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Therefore, she dismissed the classified documents case that a grand jury under Smith had brought against former president Donald Trump. Smith's office announced that it would appeal the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit . Cannon's ruling adopted

19404-422: Was extraordinary even under the circumstances. The scope was "all offenses arising out of the 1972 election … involving the president, the White House staff or presidential appointments." It was thus not limited to Watergate. The assumption of responsibility for a case was left to the discretion of the Special Prosecutor, who also had sole discretion to decide "whether and to what extent he will inform or consult with

19551-581: Was fourteen. Afterwards, he studied at St. Paul's School in New Hampshire, attending due to his father's intervention on his behalf despite low grades. Cox thrived at St. Paul and in his final year, he won the Hugh Camp Memorial Cup for public speaking and led the school's debate team to defeat Groton . It was during this period that he read Beveridge 's Life of John Marshall , which was an important early ingredient in Cox's progressive view of

19698-464: Was getting "desperate" according to his aide John T. Smith. It was clear that the Senate would make the appointment of a Special Prosecutor a condition of Richardson's confirmation. Richardson's staff had prepared a list of 100 candidates. Richardson did not recall how many he had contacted before Cox. Richardson satisfied Cox's concern over independence over two days of phone conversations, and Richardson reduced it to writing. The resulting "compact"

19845-475: Was highlighted by the fact that he brought Cox along to his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democratic Whip Senator Robert Byrd asked Cox if he needed broader authority. Cox replied that he already had "the whip hand." Cox said that the only restraint the president or the Justice Department had over him was to fire him. He also vowed that he would follow the evidence even if it led "to

19992-588: Was his metier, so much so that he would continue to do it in the future even (or especially) when he received no fee. In 1965, Cox returned to Harvard Law School as a visiting professor, teaching a course in current constitutional law and a section in criminal law. In 1969, the Legal Services Program (LSP) would bring Shapiro v. Thompson to the Supreme Court after successful arguments in the District court of Connecticut. The first set of oral arguments before

20139-504: Was impulsive and somewhat cavalier of legal principles; Cox was cautious against making missteps that would set the movement back or commit the Court to a position on which it might lose its legitimacy), Cox grew to admire Kennedy. Prior to the Ole Miss riot the subject reluctantly gave counsel to the President. Impatient of a piecemeal approach, Robert Kennedy, but more importantly the civil rights community and particularly Jack Greenberg of

20286-601: Was in its infancy. Over the decade, the Supreme Court had a series of opportunities to clarify the meaning of good faith bargaining, the scope of mandatory arbitration, the legal status of arbitration, and other important issues of policy left open by Congress. In case after case, when the majority reached the critical point of decision, the justices would rely on one of Archie's articles. In addition to his direct effect on Supreme Court decisions, Cox's scholarly writing influenced other academics and practitioners who widely cited him. The Journal of Legal Studies lists Cox as one of

20433-405: Was made a permanent professor during the 1946–47 academic year, a time when the law school greatly increased enrollment in the post-war boom. As a legal scholar and professor at Harvard throughout the 1950s, Cox became immensely influential in the labor field. His writing was so prolific that Dean Griswold pointed to Cox when he needed an example of the kind of academic output he was seeking from

20580-653: Was recommended to President Jimmy Carter for a seat on the First Circuit Court of Appeals, Cox's nomination fell victim to the dispute between the president and Senator Ted Kennedy . He was appointed to head several public-service, watchdog and good-government organizations, including serving for 12 years as head of Common Cause . Cox was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board in 1976 and 1997. In addition, he argued two important Supreme Court cases, winning both in part: one concerning

20727-399: Was regularly involved in meetings over day-to-day Justice Department activities, while at the same time he prepared to argue cases seeking to overturn state court convictions of civil rights protestors (under various statutes dealing with vagrancy, trespass and even parading without a permit.) Cox came into close contact with Robert Kennedy, and while the two had vastly different styles (Kennedy

20874-441: Was subjected to an unpleasant onslaught by Frankfurter at a public dinner and relentless questions in the October argument. When the decision was announced, however, Frankfurter was joined by only Harlan; the result was 6–2. The first case proved far easier than Cox expected. The holding was relatively narrow, simply providing federal court jurisdiction, and followed the points in Cox's brief. But Cox had much more difficulty with

21021-617: Was the solicitor general, well-respected, and a recognized face by the Warren Court. Shapiro v. Thompson was affirmed and Cox's oral argument that welfare was a fundamental right was key to Justice Brennan's majority opinion. This case would also contribute to Justice Warren's "unhappiest year" in 1969, as this case caused direct conflict between Justices Brennan and Warren. Cox was at Berkeley on May 16, 1973, when Secretary of Defense Elliot Richardson, President Nixon's nominee for attorney general, called him to ask if he would consider taking

21168-452: Was the son of a Manhattan lawyer, Rowland Cox, and rose to prominence as a patent and trademark lawyer, and who wrote Cox's Manual on Trade Marks . When Rowland Cox died suddenly in 1900, Archibald Sr. inherited his father's solo practice almost right out of law school. He built on that start to become successful in his own right. His most prominent achievement was securing the red cross as the trademark of Johnson & Johnson . Compared to

21315-428: Was to "stand firm" only on two issues: presidential conversations were to remain privileged and national security matters were not to be investigated. Otherwise "I don't give a Goddam what it is— Mitchell , Stans —anybody." If there were any doubt, the president insisted to Richardson: "You've got to believe I didn't know anything." Official Washington, however, was skeptical; Cox, they thought, would be ineffective; he

21462-497: Was unable to see pass during his lifetime received the needed momentum from his death and the legislative skill of President Johnson. In 1964 the public accommodations bill passed as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . The obvious constitutional attack on the legislation was its constitutionality under the Fourteenth Amendment because it sought to regulate conduct that was not "state action." Cox and Assistant Attorney General and Head of

21609-469: Was unlikely. But a case surfaced from Tennessee that seemed ideal to test that ruling. Tennessee had not reapportioned its legislature since 1910 and, as a result, there were urban districts that had eleven times the citizens of rural districts. Cox decided to submit an amicus curiae brief supporting the plaintiffs in Baker v. Carr . The case was argued once in April 1961 and re-argued in October. In between Cox

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