Griswold Attacks Probers' Methods

Dean Erwin N. Griswold of the Law School last night attacked abuses of due process of law in recent Congressional investigations, and outlined a seven-point program setting up a fair standard of procedure for such investigations. Griswold spoke before the Phi Beta Kappa chapter of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass.

Responsibility for the correction of these present abuses lies not with the courts or with the President, but with the Houses of Congress themselves, he declared. "Has this responsibility been fully met? It seems to me quite clear that the answer to this question is: No.

"Do not misunderstand me," Griswold told his audience. "I am opposed to legislative investigations. They clearly have a proper place in our government mental structure ... In my opinion, for what it is worth, some recent legislative investigations have been clear violations of due process."

The matter of a proper code of conduct for legislative investigations, he said, "is too important, too closely conducted with our basic liberties, to be longer neglected."

Seven Point Program

Citing progress made toward regulation of committee procedure by the Massachusetts legislature and a New York State Commission, Griswold suggested seven controls that should be instituted by Congress. His proposals were:

1.) Elimination of the one-man subcommittee in proceedings involving a witness who appears involuntarily. "As long as (the witness) appears voluntarily, there may be little objection, as far as the witness is concerned, to his appearing before any sort of body ... when he is compelled to testify against his will, the situation is wholly different. Then I say that the power of Congress against him should not be asserted by a subcommittee of a single member."

2.) Subpoenas should not be issued except by the action of the committee as a whole. Terming present practice is respect to the issuing of subpoenas, he said, "There are few ways in which the organized power of the state is brought to bear on a citizen more sharply than through a subpoena to compel testimony. Such a power should not be exercised on the judgment or discretion of one man."

Rights of the Witness

3.) The rights of the witness should be better protected. He should be informed in advance of the general scope of the questions he will be asked, and should able to insured the right to explain his answers. His right to counsel should be insured, and his consent should be allowed to speak for him.

4.) "If testimony is taken in executive session (which should never be done unless the witness is willing) no member of the committee or its staff should make available selected portions of the testimony or summaries or incomplete versions of it. The Committee should not be allowed to say, through its Chairman or otherwise, that 'we have evidence of' so and so, unless that evidence is produced in an open hearing." 5.) A witness should not have to submit to radio broadcasting, television, newsreel cameras or any other form of recording or reproduction other than ordinary stenographic transcripts. "It is high time that we recognized and accepted the fact that legislative investigations are not a part of show business. Witnesses should not be required to testify in order to provide a spectacle for the public," Griswold commented.

Not Merely to Expose

6.) Legislative investigations whose basic purpose is to expose people or develop evidence for use in criminal prosecutions are improper. "We have had chairmen of legislative committees who have announced that that was the purpose of the hearings they were conducting. In my opinion, they have thus demonstrated the impropriety of the exercise of power which they are seeking to carry out ...

7.) "It is of the first importance not only to have proper procedures established but also that there should be appropriate sanctions to make these procedures effective ... The most effective sanction in the long run would be a provision which would relieve the witness from any obligation to testify ... when the procedures are not followed."

After listing these points, Griswold reiterated his conviction that responsibility for working out fair procedures rests with the House and the Senate, and urged them to meet this responsibility. He termed complaints against the President on this score unjustified.

"Heritage of Liberty"

"The spirit of due process of law, the law of our land, our ancient heritage of liberty, requires us to bring order and fairness into the field which has recently become so chaotic," he concluded.

Early in February, Griswold attacked one-man subcommittees in a speech before the Massachusetts Bar Association at Springfield. At the same time he upheld the right of witnesses before Congressional committees to invoke the Fifth Amendment