Can presidents be prosecuted? How the Supreme Court ruled in Trump immunity case
The U.S. Constitution grants presidents “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution” for performing their official duties, but does not grant them immunity for unofficial acts, the U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday, issuing a ruling in a case over whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted over his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The ruling split the court along ideological lines, with all three liberal justices dissenting from the majority opinion, and directed lower courts to weigh in many of the particulars of Trump’s case.
But the majority did rule that Trump’s communications with Justice Department officials over the 2020 vote — and likely, his public statements and private discussions with the vice president — fall within his core duties or at the periphery of his presidential responsibilities, likely granting him immunity from prosecution.
The decision almost certainly delays any criminal trial Trump might face on the matter until after the upcoming presidential election in November, in which Trump is once again the Republican nominee.
“This case is the first criminal prosecution in our Nation’s history of a former President for actions taken during his Presidency,” the court ruled. “Determining whether and under what circumstances such a prosecution may proceed requires careful assessment of the scope of Presidential power under the Constitution.
“The nature of that power requires that a former President have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office. At least with respect to the President’s exercise of his core constitutional powers, this immunity must be absolute. As for his remaining official actions, he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity.”
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion, concluding that 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 under our system of separated powers, the President may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for his official acts. That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office.”
Yet, dissenting from the ruling “with fear for our democracy,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the decision “makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
