From: drlmccoymd@gmail.com   
      
   https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/498/292/   
      
   The grand jury occupies a unique role in our criminal justice system. It is an   
   investigatory body charged with the responsibility of determining whether or   
   not a crime has been committed. Unlike this Court, whose jurisdiction is   
   predicated on a specific    
   case or controversy, the grand jury "can investigate merely on suspicion that   
   the law is being violated, or even just because it wants assurance that it is   
   not." United States v. Morton Salt Co., 338 U. S. 632, 338 U. S. 642-643   
   (1950). The function of    
   the grand jury is to inquire into all information that might possibly bear on   
   its investigation until it has identified an offense or has satisfied itself   
   that none has occurred. As a necessary consequence of its investigatory   
   function, the grand jury    
   paints with a broad brush.   
      
   "A grand jury investigation 'is not fully carried out until every available   
   clue has been run down and all witnesses examined in every proper way to find   
   if a crime has been committed.'"   
      
   In short, the Government cannot be required to justify the issuance of a grand   
   jury subpoena by presenting evidence sufficient to establish probable cause,   
   because the very purpose of requesting the information is to ascertain whether   
   probable cause    
   exists   
      
   This Court has emphasized on numerous occasions that many of the rules and   
   restrictions that apply at a trial do not apply in grand jury proceedings.   
   This is especially true of evidentiary restrictions. The same rules that, in   
   an adversary hearing on the    
   merits, may increase the likelihood of accurate determinations of guilt or   
   innocence do not necessarily advance the mission of a grand jury, whose task   
   is to conduct an ex parte investigation to determine whether or not there is   
   probable cause to    
   prosecute a particular defendant.   
      
   Requiring the Government to explain in too much detail the particular reasons   
   underlying a subpoena threatens to compromise "the indispensable secrecy of   
   grand jury proceedings." United States v. Johnson, 319 U. S. 503, 319 U. S.   
   513 (1943).   
      
   The investigatory powers of the grand jury are nevertheless not unlimited. See   
   Branzburg, supra, 408 U.S. at 408 U. S. 688; Calandra, supra, 414 U.S. at 414   
   U. S. 346, and n. 4. Grand juries are not licensed to engage in arbitrary   
   fishing expeditions,    
   nor may they select targets of investigation out of malice or an intent to   
   harass.   
      
   Our task is to fashion an appropriate standard of reasonableness, one that   
   gives due weight to the difficult position of subpoena recipients but does not   
   impair the strong governmental interests in affording grand juries wide   
   latitude, avoiding    
   minitrials on peripheral matters, and preserving a necessary level of secrecy   
      
   We begin by reiterating that the law presumes, absent a strong showing to the   
   contrary, that a grand jury acts within the legitimate scope of its authority.   
      
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