Trump is immune

Former presidents are immune from prosecution for official actions taken while in the White House, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday, but do not have immunity for unofficial acts.

The 6-3 ruling along ideological lines appears to mean that parts of Donald Trump’s federal election-interference trial could proceed in D.C., but only after additional delay.

(The Washington Post, July 1, 2024)

Of course, the Republican-appointed justices who handed down this ruling know full well that delay is Trump’s legal strategy to avoid accountability. They could have granted Special Prosecutor Jack Smith the expedited ruling he sought in six weeks. Instead, they delayed as long as possible until six months later.

Again, they have outed themselves as political hacks in judicial garb. This ruling shows they see the Supreme Court as just the judicial arm of the MAGA Republican Party.

Just as Republican senators gave Trump a pass at two impeachment trials, these justices have given him de facto immunity. That’s why Trump is hailing it as a “big win.”

Biden could act with ‘absolute immunity’

Justice Sotomayor warned in her dissent that this ruling effectively grants Trump the presidential immunity He sought. But hey, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

So, based on this ruling, Biden should immediately order the FBI to arrest Trump on charges of treason and incitement for insurrection. And suppose he loses the November election to an imprisoned Trump or anyone else. In that case, Biden should refuse to concede and transfer power. Then what?

In short, this ruling vindicates that infamous Nixonian doublespeak: “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

Incidentally, I urged Sotomayor to end her dissent with the declaration, “I retire.” I regret that she did not.

Roberts court aping Taney court

This immunity decision shows that the Roberts court is hell-bent on aping the Taney court of the 1850s. Like that court, this court keeps affirming laws that do more to divide states than to preserve the Union.

In fact, this Trump immunity decision could be the kerosene on today’s partisan divisions, much like the Dred Scott decision was in the 1850s, leading inexorably to the Civil War. If those who fail to learn from history are doomed, God help America.

But ultimately, the Republican-appointed justices who handed down this ruling are just projecting onto the presidency the imperial prerogatives they’ve always assumed for themselves. So justices accepting private plane rides and luxury vacations from billionaires will look perfectly ethical compared with presidents ordering the DOJ to prosecute their political opponents.