Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Monday, July 1, 2024




BREAKING The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump is entitled to immunity for “official acts” as president but “There is no immunity for unofficial acts."



Lawrence Tribe:


"The question before the justices in Trump v. United States: Was Donald Trump immune from prosecution for the crimes the special counsel Jack Smith accused him of committing while president? The answer should have been obvious: No, presidents cannot commit crimes aimed at obstructing the peaceful transfer of power without facing consequences. Indeed, to my knowledge, no court has ever held that a president could be criminally immune under any circumstances. Instead of delivering that judgment many months ago and allowing the trial to proceed, the justices have given Mr. Trump the gift of delay piled upon delay. 

By taking nearly 10 weeks to deliberate before returning the case to the district court — and by sending it back not even for immediate trial but for preliminary determinations that could trigger yet another round of appeals — they have extinguished any realistic hope of getting a verdict in the Jan. 6 case before November. 

American voters will enter ballot booths to choose between Donald Trump and President Biden without knowing whether Mr. Trump is guilty of the crimes with which a grand jury of his fellow citizens charged him. 

[skip]

 Although the opinion features a high-minded disclaimer that the court is not granting Mr. Trump or any future president complete immunity, the practical effect of this decision is presumptive immunity for all future presidents and complete immunity by delay for Mr. Trump.







7 comments:

Dave Miller said...

Rarely do I see stuff so uninformed and stupid as I have today on a few “conservative” blogs. I use quotes because there is nothing conservative at all about any of these folks. The only definition of conservatism they’ll accept is one that stands by Donald Trump, regardless of his policies or whether they in fact, are conservative or not.

But that’s an argument for another day.

Today we consider the SCOTUS decision on presidential immunity and a few quotes expressing how some in the MAGA crowd see it.

“THANK GOD FOR THIS MORNING’S COURT DECISION ON IMMUNITY. Imagine if a PRESIDENT had to constantly check in with ANYBODY to make a decision he feels is right for the country?”

Yes, Imagine if a president had to make sure what he was doing was legal and not against the law? Imagine if a president, before he attempted a coup or to overturn an election had to worry about the law? Whatever would he, or she, do?

“Picture ANY president having to go through possibly months of ‘Do we , or don’t we? Will I get in trouble for doing this?’ It’s worked for 250 years…”

What is this person talking about? Presidents already had substantial leeway and immunity for official acts.

“Human beings will make mistakes. And even if we dislike a sitting president, we HAVE to ‘trust’ that his decisions are based on necessary criteria and not whether one party likes it or not.”

Since when have we seen any of this grace afforded presidents Obama and Biden when they made mistakes? Pure and utter cluelessness.

“I’ll bet had Obama known this, he’d have totally destroyed the country!”

Sure, President Obama would have used criminal immunity for official acts to “destroy the country”. And I’ve got beachfront property in Nevada I’d like to sell you too!

Where do these folks get this stuff? Do they actually read anything more than a meme or a FOX/OAN/Epoch Times headline?

Les Carpenter said...

Corrupt neo-Nazi Trump appointments assure President Bone Spurs is Above the Law. Regardless of actual election results Trump will declare victory and a repeat of J6 2021 will be assured if he loses. Preare

Shaw Kenawe said...

Dave Miller: (quoting conservatives' blogs about todays SCOTUS decision on presidential immunity)"

CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER: “Human beings will make mistakes. And even if we dislike a sitting president, we HAVE to ‘trust’ that his decisions are based on necessary criteria and not whether one party likes it or not.”

Dave M.: "Since when have we seen any of this grace afforded presidents Obama and Biden when they made mistakes? Pure and utter cluelessness."

CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER: “I’ll bet had Obama known this, he’d have totally destroyed the country!”





I know that blogger, and I wouldn't go there for any informed opinion or information. They're up to their eyeballs in Trumpism and don't know much about anything else.

Also, they are, IMO, disgusting racists. So of course they'd think the bi-racial POTUS who had not one single scandal for 8 years would "destroy the country." They refer to Mr. Obama as the "Halfrican," his wife as "Michael," and "the Mooch." Apparently having a bi-racial POTUS with an African-American FLOTUS was too much for those fools, and they've still not over it.

Trump, who's a convicted felon, adjudicated sexual assaulter/rapist and tax fraudster who's facing more criminal charges and who's a serial adulterer, liar, and con man is who they admire, not President Obama, who was an exemplar family man and competent executive-in-chief.

Like I said, they're racist to their core, and not very bright.

Ray said...

In Russia, Putin terrorized parliament into legislating lifetime immunity for him. In the United States, Trump merely had to appoint three Supreme Court Justices to effect the same.

I'm no longer sure which for of government is preferable.

Unknown said...

the SCOTUS has also just authorized the sitting President (Biden) to do what the former President (Trump) did and take action to block the certification of the result of any election he feels is not in the nation's best interests.

Obviously, the election of Donald Trump would be a catastrophe for the United States, so it is well within the outer perimeters of the President's authority to stop that from happening by any means necessary.

Since the President cannot commit a crime by overturning an election if in his judgment he believes it's the right thing to do (with or without evidence), that's all up to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris now.

Shaw Kenawe said...

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La): “Today’s ruling by the Court is a victory for former President Trump and all future presidents, and another defeat for President Biden’s weaponized Department of Justice and Jack Smith"


emptywheel:

"Mike Johnson pretends not to understand that even if Biden's DOJ had been weaponized, John Roberts just gave sanction to that."


Mike "Moses" Johnson doesn't understand that the SCOTUS just gave President Biden lots of power to do what he wants against the opposition in his capacity as POTUS!

Dave Dubya said...

Now is the time for Judge Merchan to lock Trump up for the maximum years allowed.

Biden should order his DOJ to arrest the six fascists on the Supreme Court on charges of obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting an insurrectionist felon.

Then he can appoint six replacement Justices while he still has the Senate.

All of this is under his official acts, right?