# In re President's Commission on Organized Crime Subpoena of Nicodemo Scarfo, 783 F.2d 370 (3d Cir. 1986)

Canonical: https://mobfiles.org/items/courtlistener-in-re-pcoc-subpoena-scarfo-783-f2d-370/

Third Circuit opinion of February 14, 1986 reinstating the President's Commission on Organized Crime's 1985 subpoena to Nicodemo Scarfo and holding that federal judges' service on the Commission did not violate the separation of powers.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, February 14, 1986, amended February 19, 1986; argued January 8, 1986. The President's Commission on Organized Crime subpoenaed Scarfo on June 5, 1985 to appear at a June 24 hearing in New York. The District of New Jersey quashed the subpoena. Scarfo contended that the Commission's composition was unconstitutional because two of its members were federal judges. The court answered: "We disagree and conclude that no constitutional transgression exists," and reversed.

In support of his motion, the court records, "Scarfo alleged that in a prosecution pending in the district court, United States v. Leonetti, Cr. No. 84-253 (D.N.J.1984), he was described as 'the head of the Scarfo organization' and named as an unindicted co-conspirator." That is Scarfo's own account of how another prosecution described him. The Leonetti case itself has not been opened for this archive.

The case links the Commission, whose 1986 report on Atlantic City is [also filed](/items/pcoc-1986-the-edge-local-54/), to Scarfo.

## Sources

- CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/464806/in-the-matter-of-the-presidents-commission-on-organized-crime-subpoena-of/