U.S. Code » Title 28 » Part PART I— ORGANIZATION OF COURTS › Chapter CHAPTER 3— COURTS OF APPEALS

28 U.S.C. § 49

Assignment of judges to division to appoint independent counsels

Read at: OLRCuscode.house.gov CornellLII GovInfogovinfo.gov JustiaTitle 28 CasesGoogle Scholar
(a) Beginning with the two-year period commencing on the date of the enactment of this section, three judges or justices shall be assigned for each successive two-year period to a division of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to be the division of the court for the purpose of appointing independent counsels. The Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit shall serve as the clerk of such division of the court and shall provide such services as are needed by such division of the court.(b) Except as provided under subsection (f) of this section, assignment to such division of the court shall not be a bar to other judicial assignments during the term of such division.(c) In assigning judges or justices to sit on such division of the court, priority shall be given to senior circuit judges and retired justices.(d) The Chief Justice of the United States shall designate and assign three circuit court judges or justices, one of whom shall be a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to such division of the court. Not more than one judge or justice or senior or retired judge or justice may be named to such division from a particular court.(e) Any vacancy in such division of the court shall be filled only for the remainder of the two-year period in which such vacancy occurs and in the same manner as initial assignments to such division were made.(f) Except as otherwise provided in chapter 40 of this title, no member of such division of the court who participated in a function conferred on the division under chapter 40 of this title involving an independent counsel shall be eligible to participate in any judicial proceeding concerning a matter which involves such independent counsel while such independent counsel is serving in that office or which involves the exercise of such independent counsel’s official duties, regardless of whether such independent counsel is still serving in that office.(Added Pub. L. 95–521, title VI, § 602(a), Oct. 26, 1978, 92 Stat. 1873; amended Pub. L. 97–409, § 2(b)(1), Jan. 3, 1983, 96 Stat. 2039; Pub. L. 99–554, title I, § 144(g)(3), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3097; Pub. L. 100–191, §§ 4, 5(a), Dec. 15, 1987, 101 Stat. 1307.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

The date of enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (a), is Oct. 26, 1978.

Amendments

1987—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–191, § 4, inserted at end: “The Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit shall serve as the clerk of such division of the court and shall provide such services as are needed by such division of the court.”

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 100–191, § 5(a), substituted “involving an independent counsel” for “involving a independent counsel”.

1986—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 99–554 substituted “chapter 40” for “chapter 39” in two places.

1983—Pub. L. 97–409, § 2(b)(1)(B), substituted “independent counsels” for “special prosecutors” in section catchline.

Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97–409, § 2(b)(1)(B), substituted “independent counsels” for “special prosecutors”.

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 97–409, § 2(b)(1)(A), (C), substituted “independent counsel” for “special prosecutor” wherever appearing and “independent counsel’s” for “special prosecutor’s”.

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 1986 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 99–554 effective 30 days after Oct. 27, 1986, see section 302(a) of Pub. L. 99–554, set out as a note under section 581 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 26, 1978, see section 604 of Pub. L. 95–521, set out as a note under section 591 of this title.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 52 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1941–2025 · leading case: Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988). · cites it 10× “This case presents us with a challenge to the independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, 28 U. S. C. §§ 49 , 591 et seq. (1982 ed.”
Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. v. SW Gen., Inc., 137 S. Ct. 929 (2017). · cites it 2× “2 By con- —————— 2 In Morrison, the Court used a multifactor test to determine whether an independent counsel under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, 28 U. S. C. §§49 , 591 (1982 ed., Supp. V), was an “Inferior officer.”
Mistretta v. United States, 488 U.S. 361 (1989). · cites it 2× “654 (1988), where we considered the constitutionality of the nonadjudicatory functions assigned to the "Special Division" court created by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, 28 U. S. C. §§ 49 , 591 et seq. (1982 ed.”
In Re Sealed Case (Three Cases), 838 F.2d 476 (D.C. Cir. 1988). · cites it 4× “Schmults, previously Deputy Attorney General of the United States, appeal from a district court judgment rejecting their challenge to the authority of a federal prosecutor, the independent counsel, appointed under the provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, 28 U.S.C.…”
Michael K. Deaver v. Whitney North Seymour, Jr., as Indep. Couns., 822 F.2d 66 (D.C. Cir. 1987). · cites it 3× “Deaver to the constitutionality of the independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 49 , 591-98 (1982 & Supp. Ill 1985).”
Free Enter. Fund v. Pub. Co. Acct. Oversight Bd., 537 F.3d 667 (D.C. Cir. 2008). · cites it 2× “2597 (citing 28 U.S.C. § 49 (1982 ed., Supp. V)), and defined her jurisdiction, id.”
United States v. Bogle, 689 F. Supp. 1121 (S.D. Fla. 1988). · cites it 6× “Under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, 28 U.S.C. §§ 49 , 591-599, a Special Court, assigned to a division of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, was endowed with authority to appoint an independent counsel, as well as play a role in defining the…”
In Re Wallace J. Kaminski, 960 F.2d 1062 (D.C. Cir. 1992). · cites it 2× “1 A plain reading of 28 U.S.C. § 49 indicates that it does not confer any authority upon the special division to appoint independent counsel.”
United States v. Oliver L. North, 910 F.2d 843 (D.C. Cir. 1990). “§§ 591-599 , the Special Division of this Court, see 28 U.S.C. § 49 , appointed Lawrence E. Walsh as Independent Counsel (“IC”) and charged him with the investigation and prosecution of any criminal wrongdoing by government officials in the Iran/Contra events.”
In re House of Representatives, 575 A.2d 176 (R.I. 1990). · cites it 3× “The special-prosecutor legislation is modeled in great part upon the independent counsel provisions of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, codified as 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 49 , 591 through 599 (West Supp.”
In Re Raymond J. Donovan, 877 F.2d 982 (D.C. Cir. 1989). “28 U.S.C. § 49 . 4 . 28 U.S.C. § 593 (g), January 3, 1983, 96 Stat.”
Jose Gubiensio-Ortiz v. Al Kanahele, Warden, Metro. Corr. Ctr., San Diego, California, United States of Am. v. Raul Chavez-Sanchez, 857 F.2d 1245 (9th Cir. 1988). “See 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 49 , 593 (West Supp.1988).”
Show all 52 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.