Absolute Presidential Immunity
From my piece today in The Big Picture:
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Nearly 250 years ago, the American colonies rebelled against a monarchy. In place of it, after the Constitutional Convention, they set up a Republic where, through democratic elections, a president—not a king—would govern as the chief executive. Unlike a king, the president would be subject and accountable to the laws of the land and the new Constitution.
On Monday, the Supreme Court, filled with partisan appointees bent on destroying over two centuries of progress, disagreed with that foundational premise. “The President is not above the law,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the 6-3 opinion. “But…”
That “but” goes on to do some very heavy lifting. In the case of Donald J. Trump v. United States, the High Court held that the President does in fact enjoy king-like, presumptive, absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken within the ambit of his “official” duties, while no such protection exists for “unofficial” duties.
The Court then kicked it back to the federal district court, where Judge Tanya Chutkan must now determine what does and does not constitute an official duty in Trump’s case. The problem is, of course, that “official duties” form a web that stretches quite far when you’re the president. And in the hands of a rogue executive like Donald Trump, the ruling puts few real constraints on how far the President can take things with utter impunity.
In today’s piece, I’ll lay out the basics of the ruling and give some examples of how it could apply to Jack Smith’s January 6 case against Trump. I’ll then zoom out a bit and discuss how such a broad expansion of presidential powers invites the return of the Nixon-era “Imperial Presidency”—or far worse. Finally, as is my custom when there are such dark developments, I’ll offer a glimmer of hope about how this could play out over the next few months in Judge Chutkan’s courtroom.
To read the rest of my piece on the SCOTUS ruling on immunity, follow this link.
I'll just copy and paste my Big Picture comment here:
Yesterday, after the "decision" trump was texting that "the Biden witch hunt against (him) is now over." The cult members cheered. Both trump and his cult members are to fucking stupid to realize that the corrupt supreme court just made a "Biden witch hunt" against him legal.
I am both frightened and horrified of this decision. The Supreme Court has shown the world that it’s completely corrupt. The question is: how can we hold them accountable? We know that keeping trump out of office is vitally critical to preserve our democracy. But I think even if he loses the election he will never concede and will again incite violence to “fight like hell!” Trump is completely predictable. He will do it again and this time he has much more to lose.
If democrats somehow regain power, the most important issue is to address the criminality of those Supreme Court justices. They need to be stripped of their power. I believe they have committed treason for completely violating the constitution that they swore to uphold. I believe they need their day in court as well.