Morrison v. Olson
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Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988) was a case that went before the Supreme Court of the United States. By a 7 to 1 margin, the Court ruled that the Independent Counsel Act was constitutional.
Constitutional lawyer Ted Olson, who was being investigated under the Independent Counsel Act, had attempted to argue that the independent counsel took executive powers away from the office of the President of the United States and created a hybrid "fourth branch" of government that was ultimately answerable to no one. He argued that the broad powers of the independent counsel could be easily abused, or corrupted by partisanship.
Independent Counsel Alexia Morrison in turn argued that her position was necessary in order to prevent abuses of the executive branch, which historically operated in a closed environment.
The Court upheld the Independent Counsel Act because it did not violate the separation of powers by increasing the power of one branch at the expense of another. Instead, even though the President could not directly fire the independent counsel, the person holding that office was still an Executive branch officer, not under the control of either U.S. Congress or the courts.