The Supreme Court has ruled that a former president has absolute immunity from his core constitutional powers. The decision fell along party lines: six conservative judges ruled against three liberal judges.
However, the court believes that former presidents are not entitled to immunity from prosecution for actions they performed in private.
Monday’s decision is a victory for Donald Trump, significantly reducing the chances that the federal criminal case against him for plotting to block the transfer of power will proceed before the 2024 election.
Writing the opinion of the court, Chief Justice John Roberts say:
In our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of presidential power entitles a former president to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for acts within his decisive and exclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all of his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor, wrote in a dissenting opinion, saying the court’s decision in Trump’s immunity case “makes a mockery of the principle … that no one is above the law.”
She writes:
Today’s decision to grant former presidents immunity from criminal charges reforms the institution of the presidency. It parodies the principle, fundamental to our Constitution and system of government, that no one is above the law.
The indictment “paints a grim portrait of a president desperate to stay in power,” she continued.
Since our Constitution does not prevent a former president from being held accountable for criminal and treasonous acts, I disagree.
