The supreme court, of the corporate United states, issues the first full set of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, imposing practices on lower Federal courts for all phases of criminal trials.  The FRCP formally codifies the common practice of allowing prosecutors to direct grand jury proceedings, and invokes secrecy—barring the access to grand jury proceedings by defense counsel.  This is a deliberate departure the operation of the Grand Jury as envisioned by the framers and ratifiers of Article V of Amendment.

       NOTE: Rule 6(e) of the FRCP places Federal grand jury transcripts exclusively under the control of the U.s. attorney’s office; not even Federal judges are allowed to review grand jury records.  Also, Rule 6—by omission—removes the independent investigatory authority of the grand jury, placing that power solely into the prerogative of prosecutors.

       [added 8/12/2022] Thanks to Freedom’s Phoenix for this entry.