PSC 4361 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Compulsory Process Clause
16 Oct 2017
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Mally daugherty refused to appear before the committee and in turn the senate had him arrested for contempt. He then challenged the ability of the committee to force him to testify against the attorney general in court. Legal reasoning: does the senate have the power to compel daugherty to give testimony that is needed to efficiently exercise a legislative function given to it in the. The power to acquire necessary information by way of investigation and testimony has been treated as an attribute of the power to legislate for a long time. The state courts have generally held that the power to legislate implies with it the authority to obtain information needed to legislate and to employ compulsory process for the purpose (p. 159). In this case, the supreme court establishes that the power of inquiry is an essential and appropriate" auxiliary to the legislative function: a witness may still rightfully refuse to answer questions where.
