Supreme Court Hands Donald Trump Criminal Immunity for Official Presidential Acts
The decision was one of the final rulings released by the court this term.
At the end of 2020, conservatives obtained a 6-3 ideological supermajority on the Supreme Court. Since then, the justices have annually overturned precedents that have stood for 40 or 50 years. That included decisions on access to reproductive healthcare, affirmative action programs, and the judicial guidance to defer to expert decision-making within executive branch agencies. Today though, the six conservative justices created a new legal doctrine altogether. One that essentially transforms the presidency to a monarchy with no accountability.
In a 6-3 ruling with Chief Justice John Roberts writing the opinion, the Court ruled that the President has criminal immunity for any official acts taken while in that office. Moreover, the majority increased the burden of proof prosecutors must deal with to address any unofficial actions taken during that same time. As such, this weakens the four criminal prosecutions of former President Donald Trump.
This case reached the U.S. Supreme Court from the district court in Washington, D.C. where Trump has been charged for his alleged conduct pertaining to the insurrection on January 6, 2021. Special counsel Jack Smith leads the prosecution with U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan overseeing. The case has been on hold since February 2024 when the Supreme Court decided to take up the appeal of Trump’s motion claiming absolute criminal immunity. That motion was previously denied by Chutkin and unanimously by a three-judge panel on the D.C. Court of Appeals.
During oral arguments in April, several Supreme Court justices openly expressed their disinterest in discussing the actual facts of this particular case. Instead, they were more interested in the philosophical debate about the role of the President and any potential limits that should be placed on his conduct. They sought to write an opinion for the ages. The months-long delay was already them putting their thumb on the scale in Trump’s benefit. The actual ruling dooms any hope of Trump’s remaining cases going to trial before the November 2024 election where he is once again the Republican nominee for President.
This evening, Trump’s defense team filed a motion in New York to dismiss his criminal conviction where he is awaiting sentencing based on the new legal stature created by the Supreme Court. In the Manhattan case, he was convicted in May 2024 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 presidential election. Trump now argues the case was improperly handled because evidence detailing his conduct while in office was introduced to corroborate the crime.
In a separate 5-4 ruling with Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberal justices, the court went further in preventing any prosecutions from introducing any evidence gathered from official acts by the President to establish motive or intent with the alleged unofficial acts. That too heightens the scrutiny any prosecution must obtain in order to successfully bring charges and gain a conviction. None of this will matter for Presidents with high moral standards. However, it provides those with a proclivity towards unsavory conduct the cover to know they will never face any legal consequences no matter what they do.
President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the White House tonight. In his 5-minute remarks, he rebuked the decision from the U.S. Supreme Court and sided with the dissenting opinion from Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. He called on the American public to do what the courts have refused. Holding Trump accountable for his actions on January 6 will entirely come down to the election results this fall.
Litigation in Trump’s criminal cases will remain ongoing though. The case at issue in this particular moment has been remanded back to Chutkin to conduct an evidentiary hearing. That process will gather the facts to determine if the actions at issue are covered by the immunity granted to official acts by the President. That ruling will inevitable be appealed - giving the Supreme Court justices even more influence on the proceedings. Plus, the matter would likely go away entirely if Trump is re-elected this fall. Instead of facing legal accountability, he will instead direct his Justice Department officials to go after his perceived enemies. They won’t be punished for any actual crimes but for going against the man who pledges to be a dictator starting on day one.