Local
Fenty, D.C. Council heat up battle over subpoena power
By: Bill Myers
February 8, 2009
The Fenty administration is courting a balance-of-powers fight with the D.C. Council over the mayor’s insistence that he has broad authority to subpoena witnesses and records in investigations.
The Examiner reported last month that Mayor Adrian Fenty had given Police Chief Cathy Lanier authority to issue subpoenas “in any municipal matter.” After the city council passed emergency legislation to bar those subpoenas, Fenty scrapped the order and issued a new one. This time, he gave the power to his attorney general, Peter Nickles.
“What we want to achieve for the police is a means to obtain the necessary records to allow them to rapidly respond to leads or to develop leads. ...” Nickles told the council’s Judiciary Committee on Friday.
The dispute has far-reaching implications. Nickles and Fenty insist that the District’s home rule charter gives Fenty the power “to execute any law” on the books and that subpoena power naturally should follow from that. But Congress has given prosecutorial power to the U.S. attorney, an agency of the federal Department of Justice.
The Examiner has reported that the Fenty administration has promised the U.S. Attorney’s Office that the new subpoenas won’t interfere with any investigations.
Nickles made plain at Friday’s hearing, though, that he covets that authority.
“I’d like to get more laws that we [enforce] in this jurisdiction so that we as a home rule community can enforce all our laws,” he said.
This has raised the hackles of critics on the D.C. Council, such as judiciary committee Chairman Phil Mendelson, D-at large, and Councilwoman Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3. They say Nickles’ reading of the home rule charter is too broad.
“It’s a dangerous kind of interpretation,” Cheh said Friday. “It opens a wide door.”
Cheh, a former assistant U.S. attorney and currently a constitutional law professor, said she had no objection to considering subpoena power to help police close cases more quickly. But she said that any such power ought to originate from the council, not the mayor’s office.
She will holding hearings of her own on the matter in the weeks to come, Cheh announced.
The Examiner reported last month that Mayor Adrian Fenty had given Police Chief Cathy Lanier authority to issue subpoenas “in any municipal matter.” After the city council passed emergency legislation to bar those subpoenas, Fenty scrapped the order and issued a new one. This time, he gave the power to his attorney general, Peter Nickles.
“What we want to achieve for the police is a means to obtain the necessary records to allow them to rapidly respond to leads or to develop leads. ...” Nickles told the council’s Judiciary Committee on Friday.
The dispute has far-reaching implications. Nickles and Fenty insist that the District’s home rule charter gives Fenty the power “to execute any law” on the books and that subpoena power naturally should follow from that. But Congress has given prosecutorial power to the U.S. attorney, an agency of the federal Department of Justice.
The Examiner has reported that the Fenty administration has promised the U.S. Attorney’s Office that the new subpoenas won’t interfere with any investigations.
Nickles made plain at Friday’s hearing, though, that he covets that authority.
“I’d like to get more laws that we [enforce] in this jurisdiction so that we as a home rule community can enforce all our laws,” he said.
This has raised the hackles of critics on the D.C. Council, such as judiciary committee Chairman Phil Mendelson, D-at large, and Councilwoman Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3. They say Nickles’ reading of the home rule charter is too broad.
“It’s a dangerous kind of interpretation,” Cheh said Friday. “It opens a wide door.”
Cheh, a former assistant U.S. attorney and currently a constitutional law professor, said she had no objection to considering subpoena power to help police close cases more quickly. But she said that any such power ought to originate from the council, not the mayor’s office.
She will holding hearings of her own on the matter in the weeks to come, Cheh announced.
