Independent Justice: The Federal Special Prosecutor in American Politics

When justice and politics bed down together, justice frequently suffers. To end that unhappy pairing, Congress created the Office of the Special Prosecutor in 1978. Its mandate was to insure the rule of law, to check abuses of power in the executive branch, and to restore public confidence in government after the Watergate scandal.

Has it worked? Many would say not, particularly after special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh's handling of the Iran Contra affair. But Katy Harriger would answer with a qualified yes. The Office of the Special Prospecutor has been misunderstood, neglected, and overrated, Harriger argues, yet it plays a vital role in the American political and legal systems in the post-Watergate era.

In Independent Justice, Harriger focuses on the symbolic, constitutional, and political dimensions of her subject to provide the first comprehensive, in-depth review of the Office of the Special Prosecutor and how it has operated in practice. She examines the use of independent counsel historically and in recent political scandals, including the Oliver North, Michael Deaver, Hamilton Jordan, Theodore Olson, and Edwin Meese cases. Her conclusions are based on interviews with over fifty people involved in the independent counsel process, including special prosecutors and their staffs, congressional staff, representatives of interest groups, defense attorneys, judges, and officials of the Department of Justice.

Is the Office of the Special Prosecutor worth preserving? Congress will decide in 1992 when it debates the reauthorization of the Ethics in Government Act. But Harriger argues for changes. Out of her comprehensive critique of the current system she draws both recommendations for improvement and an outline of the issues that will and should be debated by Congress and the public.