| Venue: | DC District Court |
| Facts: | Congress issues Gorsuch (administrator of EPA) a subpoena regarding superfund cleanup. EPA declines, contempt of congress is invoked, etc. |
| Posture: | Before the contempt resolution is certified, the suit for declaratory judgment is filed. The contempt citation has not yet been presented to the grand jury. |
| Issue: | Did Gorsuch act lawfully in witholding the documents under a claim of executive privilege? Is this a "case or controversy?" |
| Holding: | None: issuing a declaratory judgment would be premature. |
| Rule: | Courts have a duty to avoid unnecessarily deciding constitutional issues. |
| Reasoning: | Gorsuch is not yet a defendant in any suit. We need to delay judicial intervention until all other possible remedies for this disagreement are exhausted. To issue a declaratory judgment now would be improper. |
| Dicta: | |