Washington, DC, June 25, 1998 -- The Supreme Court of the United States today handed
down its most important decision of the term, Swidler & Berlin v. United States, No. 97-1192,
reaffirming the sanctity of the attorney-client privilege. Clients consult attorneys for a variety of
reasons, many of which are not admissions of crime, but which the client nonetheless would not wish
divulged, even after death. The attorney-client privilege was already well-established in Elizabethan
England, and as Chief Justice Rehnquist notes in his opinion, the posthumous attorney-client
privilege has been recognized in this country for well over a century. The National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers hails today's decision as a victory for all Americans. NACDL's friend-of-the-court brief was authored by Mark I. Levy, Howrey & Simon, Washington, D.C., and was
joined by the American Corporate Counsel Association and the National Hospice Organization.
Praising today's decision, NACDL President Gerald B. Lefcourt, New York City, released
the following statement:
"Kudos to a Supreme Court which, in the highest traditions of jurisprudence,
is willing to clamp down on an out-of-control Independent Counsel bent on
compromising time-honored legal principles to accommodate an uncompromising
zeal to snare a President of the United States. Years from now, we'll look back upon
our system of justice in America and herald the wisdom of our highest court in
upholding one of the most precious rights guaranteed by our Constitution -- the right
to counsel and the attendant need for respecting the confidentiality of attorney-client
discussions.
"Many citizens, particularly the elderly and the terminally ill, would be
reluctant to consult freely with a lawyer if they knew that their confidences could be
readily violated after they die. That would render the attorney-client privilege a cruel
farce, and imperil the very basis of our adversary system in America, which is the
ability to freely consult counsel and obtain informed advice.
"The majority, led by the Chief Justice, wisely refused to bend one of the oldest
common-law privileges to satisfy the rush to judgment of an overzealous prosecutor.
The rights and privileges of all Americans should not be ripped asunder even by an
investigation of the President of the United States. Overzealousness in the
prosecution of any person is a vice, and the Court has judiciously ruled against it."
[Click Here] for the text of the
Supreme Court's decision.
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NACDL is the preeminent organization in the United States advancing the mission of the nation's
criminal defense lawyers to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or other misconduct.
A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's almost 10,000 direct members -- and 80 state
and local affiliate organizations with another 28,000 members -- include private criminal defense lawyers,
public defenders, active U.S. military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving
fairness within America's criminal justice system.
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)