Gravel v. United States

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Gravel v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 19-20, 1972 Decided June 29, 1972
Full case name: Gravel v. United States Citations: 408 U.S. 606
Holding
The privileges of the Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause enjoyed by members of Congress also extend to Congressional aides, but not to activity outside the legislative process.
Court membership
Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger Associate Justices: William O. Douglas, William J. Brennan, Jr., Potter Stewart, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William Rehnquist
Case opinions
Majority by: White Joined by: Burger,Blackmun,Powell,Rehnquist Dissent by: Stewart Dissent by: Douglas Dissent by: Brennan Joined by: Douglas, Marshall

Gravel v. United States, 408 U.S. 606 (1972) was a case heard before the United States Supreme Court.

[edit] History

In 1971, Senator Mike Gravel received from Daniel Ellsberg, a consultant ot the U.S. Defense Department, a copy of the so-called Pentagon Papers, a classified Defense Department study on how the United States became involved in the Vietnam War. Gravel then convened a meeting of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds (of which he was chairman), read excerpts from the papers, and introduced all forty-seven volumes of the study into the Congressional Record as an exhibit. Press reports indicated that the senator had also arranged with Beacon Press for private publication of the Pentagon Papers. A federal grand jury, impaneled to investigate possible violations of federal law in the release of the papers, subpoenaed Leonard Rodberg, a Gravel aide, to testify about his role in obtaining and arranging for publication of the Pentagon Papers. Senator Gravel intervened, contending that requiring Rodberg to testify about activities he undertook in Gravel's service would violate the Speech and Debate Clause.

[edit] See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 408

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