United States v. John Doe, Inc

• Decision Date: 21 April 1987
• Docket Number: No. 85-1613,85-1613
• Citation: 107 S.Ct. 1656,481 U.S. 102,95 L.Ed.2d 94
• Parties: UNITED STATES, Petitioner, v. JOHN DOE, INC. I, et al
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

481 U.S. 102

107 S.Ct. 1656

95 L.Ed.2d 94

UNITED STATES, Petitioner,

v JOHN DOE, INC. I, et al.

No. 85-1613.

Argued Jan. 12, 1987.

Decided April 21, 1987.

Syllabus

Under United States v. Sells Engineering, Inc., 463 U.S. 418, 103 S.Ct. 3133, 77 L.Ed.2d 743, attorneys for the Civil Division (CD) of the Department of Justice (DOJ) may not automatically obtain disclosure of grand jury materials for use in a civil suit, but must instead seek a district court disclosure order under Rule 6(e)(3)(C)(i) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which order is available upon a showing of "particularized need." After an extensive investigation, a grand jury that had been convened by attorneys from the DOJ's Antitrust Division (AD) was discharged upon their conclusion that, although respondents had engaged in price fixing violative of the Sherman Act, criminal prosecution was unwarranted under the circumstances. Subsequently, in preparation for a possible civil action against respondents, the AD attorneys reviewed materials furnished to the grand jury and concluded that respondents had violated the False Claims Act, primary enforcement responsibility for which rests in the CD. Because they wished to consult with CD lawyers and also with the appropriate local United States Attorney before bringing suit, the AD lawyers obtained a Rule 6(e) order allowing them to disclose grand jury material to six named Government attorneys. The District Court denied respondents' motions to vacate the disclosure order and to enjoin the Government from using the grand jury information in the anticipated civil suit. However, after allowing the Government to file a complaint under seal, the Court of Appeals reversed both aspects of the District Court's denial of relief to respondents, holding that, because the AD attorneys were now involved only in civil proceedings, they were forbidden from making continued use of grand jury information without first obtaining a court order, and that disclosure to the six attorneys for consultation purposes was not supported by an adequate showing of "particularized need." Nonetheless, the court took no action with respect to the complaint, concluding that it disclosed nothing about the grand jury investigation.

Held:

1. An attorney who conducted a criminal prosecution may make continued use of grand jury materials in the civil phase of the dispute without obtaining a court order to do so under Rule 6(e). The Rule forbids a Government attorney to "disclose" material, which word cannot be inter- preted to embrace a solitary reexamination of grand jury material in the privacy of an attorney's office. Thus, by its plain language, the Rule merely prohibits those who already have legitimate access to grand jury material from revealing the material to others not authorized to receive it. Respondents' contention that disclosure to unauthorized outsiders will result inevitably when a civil complaint is filed is refuted by the record, which indicates that the complaint the DOJ filed did not quote or refer to any grand jury transcripts, documents, or witnesses, refer to the existence of a grand jury, or indirectly disclose grand jury material. Pp. 107-111.

2. Pursuant to the considerations described in Sells, there was a "particularized need" for disclosure of the grand jury materials to the CD lawyers and the United States Attorney. Disclosure was requested to enable the AD lawyers to obtain the full benefit of the experience and expertise of the other Government lawyers, and thus serves the public purpose of efficient, effective, and evenhanded enforcement of federal statutes. Since the contemplated use of the material might result in a decision not to proceed with a civil action, the disclosure could have the effect of saving the Government, the potential defendants, and the witnesses costly and time-consuming discovery. The disclosure's public benefits clearly outweigh its dangers, since it poses comparatively little risk to grand jury secrecy, to the integrity of the grand jury itself, or to the normal civil limitations on the Government's discovery and investigative powers. The Court of Appeals exaggerated the significance of potential alternative information sources by means of discovery under the Antitrust Civil Process Act. Wide discretion must be afforded district courts in evaluating the appropriateness of disclosure, and the District Court here did not abuse its discretion. Pp. 111-117.

774 F.2d 34 (2d Cir.1985), reversed.

STEVENS, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which REHNQUIST, C.J., and POWELL, O'CONNOR, and SCALIA, JJ., joined. BRENNAN, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which MARSHALL and BLACKMUN, JJ., joined, post, p. 117. WHITE, J., took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Louis R. Cohen, Washington, D.C., for petitioner.

Paul R. Grand, New York City, for respondents.

Justice STEVENS delivered the opinion of the Court.

In United States v. Sells Engineering, Inc., 463 U.S. 418, 103 S.Ct. 3133, 77 L.Ed.2d 743 (1983), we held that attorneys for the Civil Division of the Justice Department may not automatically obtain disclosure of grand jury materials for use in a civil suit, but must instead seek a court order of disclosure, available upon a showing of "particularized need." We explicitly left open the "issue concerning continued use of grand jury materials, in the civil phase of a dispute, by an attorney who himself conducted the criminal prosecution." Id., at 431, n. 15, 103 S.Ct., at 3142, n. 15. Today, we decide that open question. In addition, for the first time, we review a concrete application of the "particularized need" standard to a request for disclosure to Government attorneys.

I

In March 1982, attorneys in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice were authorized to conduct a grand jury investigation of three American corporations suspected of conspiring to fix the price of tallow being sold to a foreign government and financed by the Department of State's Agency for International Development. After subpoenaing thousands of documents from the three corporate respondents, and taking the testimony of numerous witnesses, including the five individual respondents, the Department of Justice conferred with some of respondents' attorneys and concluded that although respondents had violated § 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, criminal prosecution was not warranted under the circumstances. In early June 1984, the grand jury was discharged without returning any indictments.

On June 28, 1984, the attorneys who had been in charge of the grand jury investigation served Civil Investigative Demands (CID's), pursuant to the Antitrust Civil Process Act, 76 Stat. 548, as amended, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1311-1314, on approximately two dozen persons and entities, including the corporate respondents, calling for the production of various documents. The Antitrust Division advised each respondent that it could comply with the CID by certifying that the requested documents had already been furnished to the grand jury. Two of the corporate respondents refused to do so, and also refused to furnish any additional copies of the documents.

After further investigation, the Antitrust Division attorneys came to the tentative conclusion that respondents had violated the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3731, and the Foreign Assistance Act, 22 U.S.C. §§ 2151-2429 (1982 ed. and Supp. III), as well as the Sherman Act. Because the Civil Division of the Department of Justice has primary responsibility for enforcing the False Claims Act, see 28 CFR § 0.45(d) (1986), the Antitrust Division deemed it appropriate to consult with lawyers in the Civil Division before initiating a civil action. Additionally, because of the venue of the contemplated civil action, the Antitrust Division felt it necessary to consult with the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Accordingly, the Antitrust Division lawyers filed a motion in the District Court for the Southern District of New York requesting an order under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) allowing them to disclose grand jury material to six named Government attorneys and such associates as those attorneys might designate. After an ex parte hearing, the District Court granted the motion, based on its finding that the Government's interest in coordinating fair and efficient enforcement of the False Claims Act, and obtaining the Civil Division's and United States Attor- ney's expert consultation, constituted a particularized need for the requested disclosure.

On March 6, 1985, the Government advised respondents that the Rule 6(e) order had previously been entered and that a civil action would be filed against them within two weeks. Respondents immediately moved to vacate the Rule 6(e) order and, additionally, to enjoin the Government from using the grand jury information in "preparing, filing, or litigating" the anticipated civil action. The District Court denied both forms of relief. Respondents immediately appealed, and also moved for immediate interim relief from the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Court of Appeals granted partial relief, allowing the Government to file a complaint, but ordering that it be filed under seal.

After expedited consideration, The Court of Appeals reversed both aspects of the District Court's order. In re Grand Jury Investigation, 774 F.2d 34 (2d Cir.1985). First, the court examined the issue left open in Sells, and agreed with respondents that, because the attorneys who had worked on the grand jury investigation were now involved only in civil proceedings, the attorneys were forbidden from making continued use of grand jury information without first obtaining a court order. 774 F.2d, at 40-43. Nonetheless, the Court of Appeals took no action with respect to the complaint that had been filed, because the court concluded that the complaint disclosed nothing...