Lockwood, 092067 MIAGO, AGO 4606

• Case Date: September 20, 1967
• Court: Michigan

Honorable Emil Lockwood AGO 4606 Opinion No. 4606 Michigan Attorney General Opinion September 20, 1967          LEGISLATURE: Authority to investigate.          COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: Investigation by legislative committees.          The legislature can conduct investigations of internal affairs of constitutionally established state institutions of higher education only when such investigations relate to the appropriation of funds for maintenance and support of such institutions.          Honorable Emil Lockwood          State Senator          The Capitol          Lansing, Michigan          Prior to the decision of the Michigan Court of Appeals in The Board of Control of Central Michigan University v. Members of the State Senate Special Committee to Investigate Faculty-Administration Relationships at Central Michigan University, et al, No. 1549 (December 23, 1965), you requested my opinion on the constitutionality of Senate Resolution 88 adopted by the Senate on April 25, 1965, and reported in Journal of the Senate No. 58, p. 723. This resolution, as the title of the case indicates, created a special committee of the Senate to investigate faculty-administration relationships at Central Michigan University.          The aforesaid decision of the Court of Appeals, from which no appeal was taken, however, renders the constitutional question moot since, as the court pointed out, the hearings were conducted and concluded without the interposition of any timely objections during the course of the investigation.          Nevertheless, because of the importance of the issue raised by your letter, I will address the following question:

"Article VIII, Sections 5 and 6 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963 give to the governing boards of certain institutions of higher education 'general supervision of the institution and the control and direction of all expenditures from the institution's funds.' Section 4 of this article requires the legislature to appropriate moneys to maintain such institutions and further provides that 'the legislature shall be given an annual accounting of all income and expenditures of each of these educational institutions.' In view of these provisions, to what extent can a properly constituted committee of the legislature conduct an investigation into the internal affairs of such institutions?"

         The people have reposed the legislative power of the State of Michigan in a senate and house of representatives, pursuant to Article IV, Section 1 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963 and each house of the legislature is expressly authorized to establish the committees necessary for the efficient conduct of its business. Article IV, Sec. 17 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963.          While no Michigan Court decision has been found passing on the power or extent of authority of a legislative committee to conduct an investigation, the Supreme Court of the United States has on numerous occasions stated its opinion as to the power of Congress to conduct investigations through designated committees. Reference to several representative decisions are illustrative and illuminating. In Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 1 L.Ed.2d 1273 (1957), which involved the refusal of a witness to answer questions before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the court said:

"The power of the Congress to conduct investigations is inherent in the legislative process. That power is broad. It encompasses inquiries concerning the administration of existing laws as well as proposed or possibly needed statutes. It includes surveys of defects in our social, economic or political system for the purpose of enabling the Congress to remedy them. It comprehends probes into departments of the Federal Government to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste. But broad as is this power of inquiry, it is not unlimited. There is no general authority to expose the private affairs of individuals without justification in terms of the functions of the Congress. * * * No inquiry is an end in itself; it must be related to and in furtherance of a legitimate task of the Congress. Investigations conducted solely for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to 'punish' those investigated are indefensible." (page 1284)

Barenblatt v. United States, 360 U.S. 109, 3 L.Ed.2d 1115 (1959), was another case involving a witness who refused to answer questions before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In the opinion of the court the following statement appears:

"The power of inquiry has been employed by Congress throughout our history, over the whole range of the national interests concerning which Congress might legislate or decide upon due investigation not to legislate; it has similarly been utilized in determining what to appropriate from the national purse, or whether to appropriate. The scope of the power of inquiry, in short, is as penetrating and far-reaching as the potential power to enact and appropriate under the Constitution. "Broad as it is, the power is not, however, without limitations. Since Congress may

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