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3.69 MB
Extraction Summary
8
People
4
Organizations
0
Locations
5
Events
3
Relationships
7
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Legal analysis memorandum summarizing opinions from the attorney general and the office of legal counsel.
File Size:
3.69 MB
Summary
This document is a legal memorandum summarizing various historical opinions from the U.S. Attorney General and the Office of Legal Counsel regarding the constitutional authority of the President to not enforce statutes believed to be unconstitutional. The document, marked 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_012389', does not contain any information related to Jeffrey Epstein or his activities; its relevance is likely due to its inclusion in a larger set of documents released by a congressional committee.
People (8)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Captain Meigs | Subject of an 1860 Attorney General opinion |
Mentioned in the title of an 1860 opinion, 'Memorial of Captain Meigs'.
|
| Attorney General Black | Attorney General |
In 1860, concluded that the President could disregard an unconstitutional statute.
|
| Attorney General Civiletti | Attorney General |
In 1980, issued opinions on congressional disapproval of regulations and the duty to enforce constitutionally objecti...
|
| Secretary of Education Hufstedler | Secretary of Education |
Recipient of instructions from Attorney General Civiletti in 1980.
|
| William French Smith | Attorney General |
Authored a letter on February 22, 1985, to the House Judiciary Committee regarding the Competition in Contracting Act.
|
| Peter W. Rodino, Jr. | Chairman, House Judiciary Committee |
Recipient of a letter from Attorney General William French Smith on February 22, 1985.
|
| Robert J. Lipshutz | Counsel to the President |
Recipient of a memorandum from the Office of Legal Counsel on September 27, 1977.
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| John M. Harmon | Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel |
Authored a memorandum on September 27, 1977, regarding the President's authority to disregard unconstitutional statutes.
|
Organizations (4)
Timeline (5 events)
1860
Attorney General Black issued an opinion in 'Memorial of Captain Meigs' that the President can disregard an unconstitutional statute.
N/A
1980
Attorney General Civiletti issued an opinion regarding the constitutionality of Congress's disapproval of agency regulations.
N/A
1980
Attorney General Civiletti issued an opinion on the President's duty to defend and enforce constitutionally objectionable legislation.
N/A
Feb. 22, 1985
Attorney General William French Smith sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee about the President's refusal to execute a provision of the Competition in Contracting Act.
N/A
Sept. 27, 1977
The Office of Legal Counsel sent a memorandum to the Counsel to the President about the President's authority to disregard unconstitutional statutes.
N/A
Relationships (3)
Smith (Attorney General) sent a letter to Rodino (Chairman, House Judiciary Committee) on Feb. 22, 1985.
Harmon (Assistant AG) sent a memorandum to Lipshutz (Counsel to the President) on Sept. 27, 1977.
Civiletti instructed Hufstedler regarding regulations in a 1980 opinion.
Key Quotes (7)
"Every law is to be carried out so far forth as is consistent with the Constitution, and no further. The sound part of it must be executed, and the vicious portion of it suffered to drop."Source
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Quote #1
"the Attorney General must scrutinize with caution any claim that he or any other executive officer may decline to defend or enforce a statute whose constitutionality is merely in doubt."Source
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Quote #2
"[t]o regard these concurrent resolutions as legally binding would impair the Executive's constitutional role and might well foreclose effective judicial challenge to their constitutionality."Source
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Quote #3
"Myers holds that the President's constitutional duty does not require him to execute unconstitutional statutes; nor does it require him to execute them provisionally, against the day that they are declared unconstitutional by the courts."Source
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Quote #4
"[t]he President has no 'dispensing power,'"Source
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Quote #5
"the President's failure to veto a measure does not prevent him subsequently from challenging the Act in court, nor does presidential approval of an enactment cure constitutional defects."Source
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Quote #6
"[u]nless the unconstitutionality of a statute is clear, the President should attempt to resolve his doubts in a way that favors the statute, and he should not decline to enforce it unless he concludes that he is compelled to do so under the circumstances."Source
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Quote #7
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (4,499 characters)
Attorney General Opinions
1) Memorial of Captain Meigs, 9 Op. Att'y Gen. 462 (1860): In this opinion the Attorney General concluded that the President is permitted to disregard an unconstitutional statute. Specifically, Attorney General Black concluded that a statute purporting to appoint an officer should not be enforced: "Every law is to be carried out so far forth as is consistent with the Constitution, and no further. The sound part of it must be executed, and the vicious portion of it suffered to drop." Id. at 469.
2) Constitutionality of Congress' Disapproval of Agency Regulations by Resolutions Not Presented to the President, 4A Op. O.L.C. 21 (1980): In this opinion Attorney General Civiletti instructed Secretary of Education Hufstedler that she was authorized to implement regulations that had been disapproved by concurrent congressional resolutions, pursuant to a statutory legislative veto. The Attorney General noted that "the Attorney General must scrutinize with caution any claim that he or any other executive officer may decline to defend or enforce a statute whose constitutionality is merely in doubt." Id. at 29. He concluded, however, that "[t]o regard these concurrent resolutions as legally binding would impair the Executive's constitutional role and might well foreclose effective judicial challenge to their constitutionality. More important, I believe that your recognition of these concurrent resolutions as legally binding would constitute an abdication of the responsibility of the executive branch, as an equal and coordinate branch of government with the legislative branch, to preserve the integrity of its functions against constitutional encroachment." Id.
3) The Attorney General's Duty to Defend and Enforce Constitutionally Objectionable Legislation, 4A Op. O.L.C. 55 (1980): Attorney General Civiletti, in answer to a congressional inquiry, observed that "Myers holds that the President's constitutional duty does not require him to execute unconstitutional statutes; nor does it require him to execute them provisionally, against the day that they are declared unconstitutional by the courts." Id. at 59. He added as a cautionary note that "[t]he President has no 'dispensing power,'" meaning that the President and his subordinates "may not lawfully defy an Act of Congress if the Act is constitutional. ... In those rare instances in which the Executive may lawfully act in contravention of a statute, it is the Constitution that dispenses with the operation of the statute. The Executive cannot." Id. at 59-60.
4) Letter from William French Smith, Attorney General, to Peter W. Rodino, Jr., Chairman, House Judiciary Committee (Feb. 22, 1985): This letter discussed the legal precedent and authority for the President's refusal to execute a provision of the Competition in Contracting Act. The Attorney General noted that the decision "not to implement the disputed provisions has the beneficial byproduct of increasing the likelihood of a prompt judicial resolution. Thus, far from unilaterally nullifying an Act of Congress, the Department's actions are fully consistent with the allocation of judicial power by the Constitution to the courts." Id. at 8. The letter also stated that "the President's failure to veto a measure does not prevent him subsequently from challenging the Act in court, nor does presidential approval of an enactment cure constitutional defects." Id. at 3.
Office of Legal Counsel Opinions
1) Memorandum to the Honorable Robert J. Lipshutz, Counsel to the President, from John M. Harmon, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel (Sept. 27, 1977): This opinion concluded that the President may lawfully disregard a statute that he interprets to be unconstitutional. We asserted that "cases may arise in which the unconstitutionality of the relevant statute will be certain, and in such a case the Executive could decline to enforce the statute for that reason alone." Id. at 13. We continued, stating that "[u]nless the unconstitutionality of a statute is clear, the President should attempt to resolve his doubts in a way that favors the statute, and he should not decline to enforce it unless he concludes that he is compelled to do so under the circumstances." Id. We declined to catalogue all the considerations that would weigh in favor of non-enforcement, but we identified two: first the extent of the harm to individuals or the government resulting from enforcement; and,
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