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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, November 19, 1968
Supreme Court to rule on Powell case
WASHINGTON (UPI)—The Supreme Court agreed yesterday to rule this term whether the House had the constitutional power to bar Adam Clayton Powell from his seat in the 90th Congress on grounds of unethical behavior.
By accepting Powell's appeal, the court faced a possible new confrontation with the legislative branch of the government. Oral arguments in the case will be heard later this session and a written opinion handed down subsequently.
The controversial Harlem Negro, who was re-elected to the next Congress in the Nov. 5 balloting, was denied his seat by a vote of the House on March 1, 1967.
The action stemmed from charges that Powell had misused congressional funds as chairman of the House Labor and Education Committee; that he refused to answer questions asked by two investigating committees and that he had defied state court orders in a New York law suit.
The House countered by citing another section of the Constitution which says that both branches of Congress "shall be the judge of the . . . qualifications of its own members."
Powell's attorneys argued that the House exceeded its authority because the New York Democrat had met the requirements of the Constitution for membership—age, citizenship and residence.
Powell lost in the U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 28 and carried his case to the Supreme Court.
Six weeks after the House voted to disbar him, Powell was re-elected in a special election but never sought to claim his seat. Instead, he decided to pursue his claims through the courts and spent most of his time on the Bahama island of Bimini.
In this year's election, he won again almost without campaigning and several leaders of the fight against him in the 90th Congress have indicated they will make no effort to block his seating in the new House which convenes in January.
His attorneys said that even though the 90th Congress has ended, Powell's legal claim is important as a matter of principle and because he would be entitled to salary and other benefits if he wins.
Powell was stripped of his chairmanship of the House Labor and Education Committee and lost his seniority in the proceedings against him but these issues are not involved at this point in the court case.
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