Alisa Miles

Watkins v United States 1957

The facts of the case:  In 1954, the House Committee of Un-American Activities investigated labor organizer John Watkins about ties to the Communist Party. They also wanted him to identify members of that party. Watkins answered questions pertaining to his own activity but refused to answer questions in relation to other potential members of the communist party. Thirty names from a list were read to Watkins and seven of those were not even related to the organized labor he was involved in. He stated that the committee had no authority to ask him such questions and that it was beyond their power to do so as a sub-committee of congress. He was convicted by a federal court for contempt. The attorney representing the United States was J. Lee Rankin. The attorney for the petitioner was Joseph L Rauh Jr. Chief Justice Warren represented the court.

Core constitutional issues:  The question arose if the House Committee was in violation of using unconstitutional congressional power. The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment invalidated Watkins conviction. The Subcommittee’s “question under inquiry” was doubted due to the nature of the questions presented to Watkins. 

The ruling of the court: On June 17th 1957, in a 6-1 decision, the court favored on behalf on John Watkins. They claimed that the House Committee went beyond their boundaries of congressional power. The court ruled that the conviction of John Watkins in concern of the communist party was invalid because the House Committee had failed to provide Watkins with sufficient information related to the communist member in question. The court claimed that Watkins was not briefed on what questions he did not have to answer. 

The majority opinion: It was almost a unanimous decision that the House Committee of Un-American Activities went beyond the scope of congressional power. Congress does not have the ability to expose a person’s private affairs without it being justified by the constitution and within the powers delegated to congress.