Reading Room Document

Proposed Legislation to Grant Additional Power to the President's Commission on Organized Crime

The President's Commission on Organized Crime, a Presidential advisory committee with members from the Legislative and Judicial Branches, may be granted subpoena power without violating the Appointments Clause, U.S. Const, art. II, § 2, cl. 2, or the Incompatibility Clause, id., art. I, § 6, cl. 2. As statutory aids to its investigation, the Commission should also seek the power to administer oaths and to have false statements punished as perjury. Constitutional and policy concerns militate against seeking independent authority for the Commission to enforce subpoenas by holding individuals in contempt, or to grant use immunity. The power to grant use immunity raises questions about the Commission's advisory role and the propriety of service by members of the Legislative and Judicial Branches. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23521/download.

August 24, 1983