July 02, (THEWILL) – The United States Supreme Court, on Monday, held that former presidents enjoy absolute immunity for actions they take within their constitutional authority while in office.
The court, in a 6-3 decision, however, held that the immunity does not extend to actions taken in a private capacity.
Chief Justice John Roberts announced the decision on behalf of the court’s six-justice conservative majority. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.
The Supreme Court justices argued that enabling the prosecution of former presidents over their official acts in office could open the door for political retribution and despotism.
“The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalise the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution,” they wrote, stressing that the immunity does not apply just to only former president Donald Trump but “to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party”.
In her dissenting judgment, Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor rejected the majority decision, arguing that the ruling effectively legalises abuse of power.
“The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution.
“Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organises a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune,” she held.
The decision sends the federal election subversion case against former president Trump back to trial Judge Tanya Chutkan. The trial judge is to determine which, if any of Trump’s actions, were part of his official duties and were protected from prosecution.
While the top court did not specify whether Trump’s conduct in its entirety around the election was “official” or private, it ruled that his conversations with Justice Department officials are immune from prosecution.
US authorities had accused Trump of using “the power and authority of the Justice Department to conduct sham election crime investigations and to send a letter to the targeted states that falsely claimed that the Justice Department had identified significant concerns that may have impacted the election outcome”.
But the court ruled that Trump is “absolutely immune from prosecution for the alleged conduct involving his discussions with Justice Department officials”.
The decision will boost Trump’s defence against federal charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 vote, which he lost to President Joe Biden. It could also affect similar state-level election interference charges in Georgia.
While Several Democrats decried the apex court’s decision, Trump, however, was quick to welcome the ruling. “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY. PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN,” the former president wrote in a social media post.
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