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42 McGeorge L. Rev. 343 (2010-2011)
Watergate, Judge Sirica, and the Rule of Law

handle is hein.journals/mcglr42 and id is 348 raw text is: Watergate, Judge Sirica, and the Rule of Law Anthony J. Gaughan* TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................. ..... 343 II. THE CRIME ...................................................... 346 A. The Watergate Break-In ......................................... 346 B. The Judge ........................................ ...... 351 III. THE JUDGE AS INVESTIGATOR ...................................... 354 A. The Scope of the Prosecution's Case .......................... 354 B. Sentencing .................... .................... 367 IV. THE AFTERMATH ........................................... ...... 376 A. The Wall of Silence Breaks.. .................................. 376 B. The Court of Appeals' Review of Sirica's Handling of the Trial .......... 379 C. The Sentencing Issue ......................... ................ 382 V. CONCLUSION .................................................... 387 A. The Burglars' Fate ........................ .................. 387 B. The Trial's Legacy .......................................... 389 I. INTRODUCTION During his 2005 nomination hearing before the United States Senate, Chief Justice John Roberts declared, Judges are like umpires . . . . The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role.' Not all Supreme Court Justices have agreed with Roberts. In Johnson v. United States, Felix Frankfurter insisted, Federal judges are not referees at prize-fights but functionaries of justice.' Although the umpire analogy has broad appeal, the reality is that many judges assume a role that goes far beyond that of a referee. The great tides and currents which engulf the rest of men, do not turn aside in their course, and pass the judges by[,] Benjamin Cardozo famously observed.' Judges, Cardozo * Attorney, Godfrey & Kahn, S.C.; J.D., Harvard Law School, 2005; Ph.D. University of Wisconsin- Madison, 2002. 1. Confirmation Hearing on the Nomination of John G. Roberts, Jr. to be Chief Justice of the United States: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 109th Cong. 55 (2005), (statement of John G. Roberts, Jr.). 2. 333 U.S. 46, 54 (1948) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting in part). 3. BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO, THE NATURE OF THE JUDICIAL PROCESS 168 (1921). 343