Trump’s conviction would allow impunity for murder, bribery and coup, say progressive Supreme Court judges | International

The Supreme Court’s decision granting Donald Trump broad immunity for his acts as president marks a before and after in the legal system applicable to the tenant of the White House. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority exempts the president from responsibility in the exercise of his constitutional authority and declares him possibly immune in all official acts. According to the three progressive justices of the Supreme Court, this opens the way to a “nightmare scenario” in which a president could be declared immune for murdering political rivals, taking bribes and even leading a coup. etc. Presidents, since the controversial sentence, have become “kings above the law”. For this reason, they express “fear for democracy”.

The main dissenting opinion is written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor and supported by Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. This is all written in very harsh terms. “The president of the United States is the most powerful person in the country and possibly the world. According to the majority’s reasoning, you will now be protected from criminal prosecution when you use your official powers in any way,” he says.

“Order Navy Seal Team 6 (special forces) to assassinate a political opponent? Immunity. Organize a military coup to stay in power? Immunity. Do you take bribes in exchange for pardons? Immunity. Immunity, immunity, immunity. Let the president break the law, let him exploit the intrigues of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for bad purposes. Because if you know that one day you may face responsibility for breaking the law, you will not be as brave and courageous as we want you to be. This is the message of the majority today,” the judges noted in their private vote this Monday.

“Nightmare Scenario”

“Even if these nightmare scenarios never occur, and I pray they never do, the damage has already been done. The relationship between the president and the people he serves has been irrevocably changed. In every exercise of official power, the president is now king above the law,” he adds.

According to the majority’s thesis, the justices emphasize that it has been described as presumptive or absolute, “the use of any official power by the President for any purpose, even the most corrupt one, is immune from prosecution.” They say, “As bad as it sounds, it is as baseless as it sounds.”

In addition, they also criticize another aspect of the sentence that serves to protect Donald Trump and make his prosecution more difficult for the crimes he allegedly committed to alter the results of the 2020 elections. The sentence declares that evidence related to the acts of the president is exempt and cannot play any role in any criminal proceedings against him. “This statement, which would prevent the government from using the president’s official acts to prove knowledge or intent in the prosecution of private crimes, is meaningless,” they explain.

The controversial majority decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, states that “the President cannot be prosecuted for exercising his primary constitutional powers, and he is entitled to immunity from prosecution for at least substantially all of his official acts.” It adds that as long as the president acts in a way that does not “directly or obviously exceed (his) authority,” he is taking official action.

The conservative majority tries to qualify the content of the ruling with some clarification and clarity, such as that “the President does not enjoy immunity for his unofficial acts,” that “not everything the President does is official,” and that immunity “applies equally to all people in the Oval Office, regardless of politics or party.” This ruling will directly benefit Trump, but it seems the judges are forced to say that this is not a ruling tailored for him.

No other president has had to appeal for that exemption. The dissenting vote is reminiscent of how President Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon after his resignation in the Watergate scandal. He points out that both Ford’s pardon and Nixon’s were “essentially based on the understanding that the former president faced potential criminal liability.”

“Never in the history of our republic has a president had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the circumstances of his office to violate criminal law. From now on, however, all former presidents will enjoy said immunity. If the occupant of that office abuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must obey will not provide protection. For fear of our democracy, I dissent,” he concluded his personal vote.

“The Key to Dictatorship”

This sentence comes at a time when Donald Trump wishes to be elected for a second term in the elections to be held on November 5. In fact, the delay in resolving the case and the meaning of the decision have cleared the way for Trump by the Supreme Court judges. If we add to this his victory in last week’s debate in Atlanta and the doubts created among the Democrats about Joe Biden’s ability to face a second term, Trump is more likely to return to the White House. Now, he will do so with the type of protection given by judges, including three judges he himself appointed.

“They’ve handed Donald Trump the keys to dictatorship,” Quentin Fulks, senior deputy campaign director, told reporters. “The Supreme Court has given Trump the permission to murder and imprison anyone he wants to keep his power.”

“Trump’s court has left our country vulnerable to attack from within. It has removed the barriers that protect us from a president who seeks to become a dictator, and left us at the will of the man in office. Now more than ever, we must unite and prevent Donald Trump from ever holding that office again,” Fulks said.

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