Gravel v. United States

The Supreme Court held against Senator Gravel on a 5-4 vote. The decision, written by Justice Blackmun, did support him on two counts, however. It upheld Gravel's contention that reading the Papers aloud in the subcommittee was protected by the Speech or Debate Clause:

The Speech or Debate Clause was designed to assure a coequal branch of the government wide freedom of speech, debate, and deliberation without intimidation or threats from the Executive Branch. It thus protects Members against prosecutions that directly impinge upon or threaten the legislative process. We have no doubt that Senator Gravel may not be made to answer . . . for the events that occurred at the subcommittee meeting.

The Court also agreed with Gravel that the Speech or Debate Clause extended to his aide, Rodberg:

We agree with the Court of Appeals that for the purpose of construing the privilege a Member and his aide are to be "treated as one" . . . [I]t is literally impossible, in view of the complexities of the modern legislative process, with Congress almost constantly in session and matters of legislative concern constantly proliferating, for Members of Congress to perform their legislative tasks without the help of aides and assistants; that the day-to-day work of such aides is so critical to the Members' performance that they must be treated as the latters' alter ego.

However, the Court held that Gravel's presentation of the Papers to a private publisher was not a legislative act, and thus was not protected by the Speech or Debate Clause:

[P]rivate publication by Senator Gravel . . . was in no way essential to the deliberations of the House; nor does questioning as to private publication threaten the integrity or independence of the House by impermissibly exposing its deliberations to executive influence . . . We cannot but conclude that the Senator's arrangements with Beacon Press were not part and parcel of the legislative process.

In short, the Court concluded that Rodberg could be questioned, but only under certain conditions:

The Speech or Debate Clause does not in our view extend immunity to Rodberg, as a Senator's aide, from testifying before the grand jury about the arrangement between Senator Gravel and Beacon Press or about his own participation, if any, in the alleged transaction, so long as legislative acts of the Senator are not impugned.

Gravel v. United States provided important clarification on the breadth of the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution.