A Declaration on Independents

An appeals court invalidates the special-prosecutor law

The Reagan Administration, which has been beset by charges of corruption, finally got some good news from the courts last week. In a 2-to-1 decision, the Washington, D.C., appeals court declared unconstitutional the method used to appoint independent counsel and the limits placed on the President's power to remove them at will. The decision puts a large question mark over the conviction last month of former White House Aide Michael Deaver.

The case that spurred the court ruling was not Deaver's but a far less visible one. Former Assistant Attorney General Theodore B. Olson has been under investigation for some 20...

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