Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1960)

LAW SCHOOL DEAN SET FOR FCC But appointment of Charles King is tangled in recess legalities A Detroit law school dean, Charles Henry King, is poised in the wings ready to become the seventh member of the Federal Communications Commission. However, just when Mr. King will assume his new post was very much up in the air late last week with the announcement that Congress would recess for the presidential nominating conventions and then reconvene in Washington. This action can delay the beginning of Dean King's official duties for several weeks. President Eisenhower sent the name of the dean of the Detroit College of Law to the Senate last Monday (June 27) to fill the one-year (until June 30, 1961) remaining in the term of former FCC Chairman John C. Doerfer. "There is not a chance in the world" that the Senate Commerce Committee, which must act on the nomination before the full Senate, will take up the King nomination this session, a committee spokesman said last week. He was of the opinion that the committee was not expected to approve the nomination during this Congress. Mr. King's name, under law, had to be placed before the Senate prior to adjournment before he could get paid as a commissioner under a recess appointment. Recess Appointment ■ A White House spokesman said last week that the President planned to give Mr. King a recess appointment soon after the 86th Congress adjourned xine die. At the time, it was expected that this adjournment would come no later than this Saturday (July 9). Now, however. Congress plans to return to Washington to continue the present session Aug. 15. This means, the White House said last week, that unless the Senate confirms Mr. King during the August session he will not receive a recess appointment until after final adjournment — probably sometime in September. There was considerable speculation in Washington last week whether the President has the power to put Mr. King on the FCC while the Senate is recessed for the conventions. A halfdozen legal opinions were received from as many "experts." In any case, the White House spokesman said, such an appointment is not contemplated — which means the commission will operate with six members at least until September. Under Senate rules, since the current recess is for more than 30 days, 54 (GOVERNMENT) the nomination of Mr. King will be returned to the White House and must be resubmitted in August. Although a recess appointment was planned eventually, the name was sent to the Senate before adjournment to assure that Mr. King could draw the $20,000 annual salary of a commissioner. Title 5, Section 56 of the U.S. Code provides that no money shall be paid to a recess appointee until confirmed by the Senate if the vacancy for which he was appointed existed 30 or more days prior to sine die adjournment. An exception, covering the present situation, provides for the appointee to be paid during adjournment if his name was pending before the Senate at the time of adjournment. The present vacancy was created in the middle of March when former FCC Chairman John C. Doerfer resigned. The President first appointed Edward K. Mills Jr. to succeed Mr. Doerfer, but Mr. Mills' name was withdrawn after a conflict of interest was disclosed by the nominee himself (Broadcasting, May 23). Dean King's name first entered the speculation as to who would be appointed to the commission some three weeks ago (Closed Circuit, June 13). After being tapped by the President last week, Mr. King said that he had no idea who proposed his name for the FCC Appointee King Waits 'sine die' adjournment FCC. He said that he has known David Kendall, White House aide who handles such appointments, for over 15 years and that Mr. Kendall is the only person from the 'White House staff to contact him. Mr. Kendall also is a native of Michigan. Administrator Extraordinary ■ In 1944, the fortunes of the Detroit College of Law almost had reached the point of no return and the school was about to have to close its doors. In a move to keep the classrooms from being locked permanently, the board turned to one of the school's young graduates and faculty member to place the college back in the good graces of lawyers and prospective students. That the selection of Mr. King as dean and chief executive officer was a wise choice is self-evident through the tremendous advances made by the college under his administration. During his tenure, the college has been fully accredited by the American Bar Assn. and the Assn. of American Law Schools. The student body has grown from 68 to 550 and there are now 24 faculty members compared to five in 1944. Charles Henry King was born in Gulfport, Miss., Aug. 8, 1906. Young Mr. King did not have much trouble choosing his life profession as his father, grandfather and great grandfather all were lawyers. After completing elementary school in Bradford, Pa., and high school in Detroit, he entered the law school which he now heads. While an undergraduate he wrote a book. An Outing of Evidence, which sold enough copies to pay his final year's tuition. "I still see a copy of it lying around every once in awhile," Mr. King said last week. He received his LL.B degree from the Detroit College of Law in 1933 and immediately went into private practice in that city. "In those days you took whatever you could get," Mr. King mused when asked if he specialized in his practice. Two years after graduation, the newly-appointed commissioner joined the College of Law faculty on a parttime basis and in 1937 returned to his alma mater as a fulltime professor. In 1939, he began commuting to Ann Arbor for graduate work at the U. of Michigan and received his masters degree in law in 1940. He has been with the law college ever since, the last 16 years as the school's administrative head. Dean King also has practiced law on the side, mostly appellate cases before the Michigan BROADCASTING, July 4, 1960