It’s been about a month since the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Trump v. United States, with an important underlying question at stake: Does a former president have immunity from criminal prosecution for acts committed while in office?
We don’t yet know how the judges will answer that question – although the sooner they decide, the better it will be for prosecutors and the legal system – although it appears much of the public has already come to their conclusions.
Marquette Law School conducted a national survey this month and asked respondents: “The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case on whether former presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions while in office. That’s closer to your opinion: [former presidents] should be immune from criminal prosecution for their official actions [or] should they not enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts?”
The results were quite one-sided:
Former presidents should be immune from criminal prosecution: 16%
Former presidents should not be immune from criminal prosecution: 71%
At first glance, the data suggested that Trump’s repeated claims convinced only a modest portion of the American electorate. But in this case, the pollster took an interesting extra step. From the Marquette Law School report:
If you think the shift was the result of self-identified Republicans changing their minds, you’re right: When asked about “former presidents,” only 29% of Republican voters said they supported immunity. When Trump’s name was added to the mix, support for immunity among Republican voters more than doubled to 61%.
This is not entirely surprising, but the survey data does serve as a timely reminder of party and tribal loyalties, principles, and the extent to which many find it easy to prioritize the former over the latter.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
