Professors Tell Congressmen Courts Can Name Prosecutor

Two Law School professors told Congressional committees Wednesday that Congress can constitutionally order the courts to appoint a special Watergate prosecutor.

Paul M. Bator, associate dean of the Law School, told the House Judiciary Committee that "Congress has the power to authorize the courts to appoint a special prosecutor to prosecute the crimes related to Watergate."

Bator admitted that the matter was "not beyond dispute," and suggested that a mechanism for prompt judicial review be included in any legislation.

Paul A. Freund, Loeb University Professor, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Congress has "the concomitant power to limit the removability of the special prosecutor." The appointing-court would have the sole right to fire such a prosecutor, short of impeachment by Congress, Freund said.

Study! Reflect!

In a New York Times Op-Ed article last spring, Bator said that a court-appointed prosecutor would be unconstitutional. "Further study and reflection, however, led me to a different conclusion," Bator told the committee.

Bator's original view may have been responsible for his being called before the House Judiciary Committee, Bator said last night.

Both Bator and Freund were among a group of five constitutional experts appearing before Congressional committees yesterday. Only one speaker, Roger C. Crampton '50, Dean of Cornell Law School, suggested that Nixon, and not the courts, should select a Watergate prosecutor.