Prosecutions of Reagan Aides Undercut by Court Three Times

The overturning of Oliver L. North’s conviction Friday was the third time in three years that the the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, now dominated by appointees of former President Ronald Reagan, has undercut the prosecution of former Reagan Administration officials.

In January, 1988, the appeals court, on a 2-1 vote, declared unconstitutional the independent counsel law. The position of independent counsel was created in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, with the counsels given authority to investigate and prosecute top Administration officials.

Two Reagan appointees to the panel--Judges Laurence H. Silberman and Stephen F. Williams--said that all prosecutions must be controlled by the President. Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an appointee of former President Jimmy Carter, dissented.

This decision could have resulted in the dropping of prosecutions against a series of Reagan aides, such as Michael Deaver and Lyn Nofziger, but, five months later, the Supreme Court reversed the ruling on a 7-1 vote.

Last year, after a jury convicted Nofziger of illegal lobbying, the appeals court overturned the conviction on a 2-1 vote. It concluded that, although the former White House aide had violated the law, the independent counsel did not “demonstrate that Nofziger had knowledge of the facts that made his conduct criminal.”

Two Reagan appointees--Judges James Buckley and Williams--formed the majority. The dissenter, Carter appointee Judge Harry Edwards, accused the majority of a “convoluted attempt” to rewrite the law so as to spare Nofziger. Prosecutors later dropped the case.

Friday’s decision overturning North’s conviction came on another 2-1 vote. Two Reagan appointees--Silberman and David Sentelle--formed the majority. Chief Judge Patricia Wald, a Carter appointee, dissented, saying she was “satisfied that North received a fair trial.”

Independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh could appeal the North decision to the full appeals court, but six of its 10 judges were appointed by Reagan or President Bush.

In recent decades, the U.S. appeals court in Washington had gained the reputation of being both very powerful and highly political. It is often considered the nation’s second most powerful court because it oversees legal challenges to federal rules and regulations, as well as hearing appeals in highly publicized criminal cases in Washington.

On taking office in 1981, the Reagan Administration sought to remake what had been considered a liberal court into a more friendly forum. Some of its top attorneys, such as Robert H. Bork, Antonin Scalia and Douglas Ginsburg, were appointed to the appeals court.

Not surprisingly, the more conservative appeals court has been less willing to overturn regulations issued by federal agencies. But it has given a more favorable hearing to high government officials who have been convicted in the lower courts.