Nightmare scenarios for a federal supreme court in the U.S., and the fate of the ‘death of the law’

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a blistering dissent along with the other two liberal justices, the ruling creates a series of “nightmare scenarios” for what a president is now allowed to do. Do you think the Navy will order its team to kill a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. In exchange for a pardon, is it possible for someone to take a bribe? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.

As of Monday, the bedrock principle that no one is above the law has been set aside. The court undermined the purpose of the american revolution by giving presidents the freedom to act in a “law free zone”, which was called a step toward restoring the monarchy that was rejected in the Declaration of Independence. Presidents can still be impeached for their crimes in office, but it is hard to see how they can ever be prosecuted. They can take a once-inmaginable action, like encouraging insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and not fear arrest or being held legally accountable.

Chief Justice Roberts said the president may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and that he is entitled to an immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. The immunity applies to everyone in the Oval Office, no matter what party they are in.

That will entail significant delays, and the prospects for a trial before the election seem vanishingly remote. If Mr. Trump prevails at the polls, he could order the Justice Department to drop the charges.

The Supreme Court Says Trump Is Partly Shield From Prosecution Despite Calls For Their Remnants (by Thomas and Alitotook-Part-in-The-Case)

“Today’s decision to grant former presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the presidency,” she wrote. No man is above the law, that’s what our constitution says, and that makes it a mockery.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote in his opinion that the Supreme Court’s job is not to sift through the evidence and separate protected conduct from the rest. He wrote that the analysis is best left to the lower courts.

We have asked the district court to determine whether a prosecution involving Trump’s alleged attempts to influence the vice president’s oversight of the certification proceeding in his capacity as president of the Senate would pose any dangers of intrusion.

Source: Live Updates: Supreme Court Says Trump Is Partly Shielded From Prosecution

The 14th Amendment and a Supreme Court Decision on the Role of Pro-Trump Candidates in the Decrees of Jan. 6

She said that the Navy’s Seal Team 6 could be ordered to assassinate a political rival. Immune. Is there a coup plot to hold onto power? The person is Immune. Does someone take a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.

The position of the president doesn’t give them a lifelong get out of jail free pass, because the United States has only one leader at a time.

In March, the court unanimously rejected an attempt to bar Mr. Trump from the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which makes people who engage in insurrection ineligible to hold office. The court, without discussing whether Mr. Trump was covered by the provision, ruled that states may not use it to exclude candidates for the presidency from the ballot.

On Friday, the court ruled that federal prosecutors had improperly used an obstruction law to prosecute some members of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. Two of Mr. Trump’s charges are based on that law.

The court decided the case restoring Mr. Trump to the ballot at a brisk pace, hearing arguments a month after agreeing to and issuing its decision a month after that.

The immunity case has moved at a considerably slower pace. Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing the prosecution, wrote to the justices in December, asking them to take the case immediately because of the important public importance of resolving the issue of immunity. Only this court can resolve them, he said.

The conservatives didn’t seem to want to look at the details of the charges against Mr. Trump. The court should rule on presidential power in general, rather than issue a ruling on presidential power in particular.