Opinion ID: 657236
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Comparison to Morrison v. Olson.

Text: 38 The authority most analogous to this case is Morrison v. Olson, in which the Supreme Court held that the independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act do not impermissibly interfere with the functions of the Executive Branch in violation of the separation of powers principle. 487 U.S. at 697, 108 S.Ct. at 2622. Morrison provides a baseline against which we may assess whether Congress has unconstitutionally diminished executive power by permitting private plaintiffs to sue in the name of the United States for an injury to the federal treasury. Comparison to Morrison is particularly useful because that case considers the degree to which Congress may assign prosecutorial powers to persons not under the direct control of the Executive Branch. 39 Before comparing the qui tam provisions of the FCA to the independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act, we must address Boeing's contention that only the Executive Branch has the power to enforce laws, and therefore to prosecute violations of law. 7 It is clear to us that no such absolute rule exists. Morrison itself indicates otherwise because that decision validated the independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act even though it recognized that [i]t is undeniable that the Act reduces the amount of control or supervision that the Attorney General and, through him, the President exercises over the investigation and prosecution of a certain class of alleged criminal activity. 487 U.S. at 695, 108 S.Ct. at 2621. The Court also stated in Morrison that [t]here is no real dispute that the functions performed by the independent counsel are 'executive' in the sense that they are law enforcement functions that typically have been undertaken by officials within the Executive Branch. 487 U.S. at 691, 108 S.Ct. at 2619 (emphasis added). Use of the word typically in that sentence, considered in light of the Court's ultimate conclusion upholding the independent counsel provisions, must mean that prosecutorial functions need not always be undertaken by Executive Branch officials. See Stephanie A.J. Dangel, Note, Is Prosecution a Core Executive Function? Morrison v. Olson and the Framers' Intent, 99 Yale L.J. 1069, 1070 (1990) (Framers intended that prosecution would be undertaken by but not constitutionally assigned to executive officials, and that such officials would typically but not always prosecute). Thus, we reject Boeing's assertion that all prosecutorial power of any kind belongs to the Executive Branch. 40 Both sides in this litigation compare the degree of executive control over independent counsels to the degree of executive control over qui tam relators, yet they reach opposite conclusions. Boeing contends that Morrison stands at the outer limits of congressional authority to insulate government litigation from presidential control. Even accepting that proposition as true, however, we conclude that the FCA qui tam provisions do not exceed those limits. That is, the FCA permits a degree of executive control sufficient to satisfy the Morrison standard. 41 Each side in this case proposes a different approach to comparing the qui tam provisions to the independent counsel provisions. Boeing suggests that we should look at the precise means of executive control identified and found sufficient in Morrison, and then base our decision on the absence of those same means in the qui tam provisions. Kelly, on the other hand, suggests that we identify all possible means of executive control in the qui tam provisions, and then compare them in toto to the means of control identified in Morrison. We believe that, under Morrison, Kelly's approach is the correct one. Twice in Morrison the Court stated that the proper inquiry is whether the Act taken as a whole violates the principle of separation of powers by unduly interfering with the President's constitutional role. 487 U.S. at 685, 693, 108 S.Ct. at 2615, 2620. Thus, Morrison instructs us to compare the qui tam provisions as a whole to the independent counsel provisions as a whole. 42 The powers of an independent counsel are quite broad. With respect to all matters within the independent counsel's jurisdiction, the Act grants the counsel 'full power and independent authority to exercise all investigative and prosecutorial functions and powers of the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, and any other officer or employee of the Department of Justice.'  Morrison, 487 U.S. at 662, 108 S.Ct. at 2604, citing 28 U.S.C. Sec. 594(a). The counsel's functions and powers include conducting grand jury proceedings and other investigations, initiating and conducting civil and criminal litigation, accepting referrals of matters from the Attorney General, framing and signing indictments, filing informations, appealing decisions, and handling all aspects of any case in the name of the United States. 487 U.S. at 662, 108 S.Ct. at 2604. The counsel may also draw on public resources by appointing employees, and requesting and obtaining assistance from the Department of Justice. Id. In addition, whenever a matter has been referred to an independent counsel under the Act, the Attorney General and the Justice Department are required to suspend all investigations and proceedings regarding the matter. Id. at 662-63, 108 S.Ct. at 2604, citing 28 U.S.C. Sec. 597(a). 43 The powers of a qui tam relator vary depending on whether and when the government takes over the qui tam action. First, when a relator proceeds with a case in which the government has not intervened, the relator exercises the broadest possible authority the FCA permits. Such a relator has full power to conduct litigation of the particular case in the name of the United States, but only with the resources of a private plaintiff and subject to possible discovery limitations. Also, a relator who pursues a frivolous action can be ordered to pay the defendant's costs and attorneys' fees. On the other hand, when the government takes over a qui tam case from the outset, the FCA explicitly accords the government primary authority to conduct the case. Finally, when the government intervenes late in the action, a fair interpretation of the statute is that the government has a similar degree of control over the litigation as if it had intervened at the start. 8 In comparison to any of these three situations, an independent counsel exercises broader investigative authority, prosecutorial discretion, and authority to use the resources of the U.S. government than does a qui tam relator. 44 Morrison identifies several means by which the Executive Branch can control an independent counsel's exercise of the powers outlined above. First, no independent counsel may be appointed without a specific request by the Attorney General, and the Attorney General's decision not to request an appointment is unreviewable. Second, the Attorney General retains the power to remove an independent counsel, though only upon a showing of good cause. The Act requires the Attorney General to submit a report to the Judiciary Committees of the House and the Senate and to a special court responsible for appointing independent counsels specifying the grounds for removal. Morrison, 487 U.S. at 663, 108 S.Ct. at 2604 (citing 28 U.S.C. Sec. 596(a)(2)). The Attorney General's removal authority is further limited by the Act's provision that an independent counsel can obtain judicial review of the Attorney General's removal action by filing a civil suit. The Act authorizes the reviewing court to grant reinstatement or other appropriate relief. Id. at 663-64, 108 S.Ct. at 2605 (citing 28 U.S.C. Sec. 596(a)(3)). 45 Third, the independent counsel's jurisdiction is defined with reference to the facts submitted by the Attorney General upon requesting an appointment. However, it is the special court charged with appointing an independent counsel that actually defines the counsel's prosecutorial jurisdiction. Id. at 661, 108 S.Ct. at 2603 (citing 28 U.S.C. Secs. 593(b), 487 U.S. at 679, 108 S.Ct. at 2613). 9 Finally, the Act requires the counsel to abide by Department of Justice policies, unless it is not possible to do so. Morrison, 487 U.S. at 696, 108 S.Ct. at 2621. The Court concluded that these features give the Executive Branch sufficient control over the independent counsel to ensure that the President is able to perform his constitutionally assigned duties. Id. (emphasis added). We note that the Court reached this conclusion despite the fact that the Attorney General's unreviewable discretion to request appointment of an independent counsel is the only unconditional means of executive control which the Ethics in Government Act provides. 46 Under the FCA, the Executive Branch can control a qui tam relator's exercise of prosecutorial powers in several ways. The government can intervene in a case and then take primary responsibility for prosecuting the action; it can seek judicial limitation of the relator's participation; it can move for dismissal of a case which it believes has no merit, 10 after notice to the relator and opportunity for a hearing; it can seek a judicial stay of the relator's discovery regardless of whether it intervenes; and it remains free to seek any alternate remedies available, including through any administrative proceeding. 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3730(c). 47 Several of the control mechanisms built into the qui tam provisions are qualified. For example, the government may dismiss an action in which it has intervened only after an objecting relator has had an opportunity for a hearing, 11 and may settle with a defendant only after a court has determined that the proposed settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable under all the circumstances. 12 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3730(c)(2)(A), (B). Furthermore, the government must show good cause in order to intervene in an action which has already commenced. Id. Sec. 3730(c)(3). However, the only unqualified control built into the independent counsel provisions is that the Attorney General has unreviewable discretion to request appointment of a counsel, and therefore to initiate litigation by a counsel. Boeing argues that the power to initiate litigation is an important and exclusively executive function. 13 Clearly, the government has greater authority to prevent the initiation of prosecution by an independent counsel than by a qui tam relator. But once prosecution has been initiated, the government has greater authority to limit the conduct of the prosecutor and ultimately end the litigation in a qui tam action than it does in an independent counsel's action. 14 We conclude that because the Executive Branch has power, albeit somewhat qualified, to end qui tam litigation, it is not significant that it can not prevent its start. 48 The Court in Morrison noted that even though the mechanisms just discussed give the Executive Branch sufficient control over an independent counsel, it is undeniable that the Act reduces the amount of control or supervision that the Attorney General and, through him, the President exercises over the investigation and prosecution of a certain class of alleged criminal activity. Morrison, 487 U.S. at 695, 108 S.Ct. at 2621. The Court specifically pointed out that the Act does not allow the Attorney General to appoint the individual of his or her choice, to determine the counsel's jurisdiction, or to remove a counsel at will. Id. at 695-96, 108 S.Ct. at 2621. Likewise, we do not deny that the qui tam provisions of the FCA to some degree diminish Executive Branch control over the initiation and prosecution of a defined class of civil litigation. Nonetheless, we find that the Executive Branch exercises at least an equivalent amount of control over qui tam relators as it does over independent counsels. 15 Thus, the FCA gives the Attorney General sufficient means of controlling or supervising relators to satisfy separation of powers concerns. 49 In addition to considering whether the Ethics in Government Act taken as a whole violates the separation of powers principle, the Court in Morrison also specifically addressed whether the provision of the Act restricting the Attorney General's power to remove an independent counsel, taken by itself, impermissibly interferes with the President's exercise of his functions. 487 U.S. at 685, 108 S.Ct. at 2615. The Court held in Morrison that the good cause restriction on the Attorney General's power to remove an independent counsel does not violate separation of powers. Id. at 693, 108 S.Ct. at 2620. The essence of the Court's removal analysis in Morrison, based on its interpretation of prior removal jurisprudence, is an inquiry into whether Congress has impermissibly encroached on executive power by limiting presidential removal authority. Id. at 685-93, 108 S.Ct. at 2615-20. See also Bowsher v. Synar, 478 U.S. 714, 726, 106 S.Ct. 3181, 3187, 92 L.Ed.2d 583 (1986) (Congress cannot reserve for itself the power of removal of an officer charged with the execution of the laws.). The Court found no such encroachment evident in the independent counsel provisions. Morrison, 487 U.S. at 691, 108 S.Ct. at 2619. 50 In light of the attention paid to the removal issue in Morrison, we have considered whether the lack of a provision permitting the government to remove a relator invalidates the qui tam provisions. Short of dismissing a qui tam action, the government can only seek limitation of a relator's participation in a case. 31 U.S.C. Sec. 3730(c)(2)(C). However, the concept of removal does not make sense in the qui tam context, in which there is no office from which to remove the relator and subsequently fill with someone else. Cf. Morrison, 487 U.S. at 664, 108 S.Ct. at 2605 (discussing procedures for terminating the office of an independent counsel). In contrast to independent counsels, relators are not replaceable. Cf. id. at 662 n. 5, 108 S.Ct. at 2604 n. 5 (special court which appoints independent counsels authorized under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 593(e) to fill vacancies due to death, resignation or removal of an independent counsel). The only practicable way to remove a relator is to end the qui tam litigation--and this the government has power to do. While the government's power to end qui tam litigation is qualified, so is the government's power to remove an independent counsel; 16 thus, these aspects of the two Acts are not meaningfully distinguishable for purposes of separation of powers analysis. 51