"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting": Congressman William Jefferson, the Saturday Night Raid, and the Speech or Debate Clause

Authors

• James W. McPhillips, University of Georgia School of Law

Publication Date

2008

Abstract

On May 20, 2006, for the first time in U.S. history, federal agents executed a search warrant in raiding the Capitol Hill office of a sitting member of Congress. The raid was the culmination of a fourteen month corruption and bribery investigation into Representative William J. Jefferson's business dealings in Africa. Supported by bipartisan outcry, Jefferson sought the return of the documents seized in the raid under the legislative immunity protection of the Speech or Debate Clause. In United States v. Rayburn House Office Building, the D.C. Circuit agreed with Jefferson that the FBI violated his constitutional rights and granted Jefferson the ability to review and protect individual documents that he asserted were "legislative" in nature. This Note explores the impact and effectiveness of the Rayburn decision, noting that the decision side-stepped important Supreme Court precedent and created dangerous incentives for legislators,permitting the obstruction of future prosecution of unlawful conduct in Congress. Furthermore,in blazing this unique and unclear path, the Rayburn decision seemed to discourage the established and effective use of issuing subpoenas to gather incriminating evidence against allegedly corrupt legislators.

Recommended Citation

McPhillips, James W. (2008) ""Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting": Congressman William Jefferson, the Saturday Night Raid, and the Speech or Debate Clause," Georgia Law Review: Vol. 42: No. 4, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/glr/vol42/iss4/5