“Presidential Immunity: Upholding the Constitution or Evading Justice?”

The claim that “no man is above the law” rings hollow when broad immunity exempts a President from prosecution.

7/7/24

The Supreme Court has spoken. Just so we’re starting on the same page, here’s the official text from the Court in the case of Trump v the United States — i.e., the case about Presidential immunity:

“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 criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive. The President therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts.”

Ya gotta love the gratuitous inclusion of the statement that, “The President is not above the law,” even as the Court is bending the parameters of the law to undercut that principle. I’m not a fan of this ruling because of that sleight of hand and also because I — like many others — would have much preferred that the Court be guided by the facts…