US Supreme Court rules in Trump ruling that former presidents have immunity in official acts

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that former presidents are protected from prosecution for actions they take within their constitutional authority, as opposed to their private capacity, in a decision on former President Donald Trump’s request for immunity from criminal charges against him.

In its opinion with six judges in favor and three against, the US Supreme Court ruled for the first time that former presidents can be protected from prosecution for their official actions while they occupy the White House. But rather than do it themselves, the justices left it to lower courts to determine precisely how to apply the decision to Trump’s case.

The outcome means a further delay in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith related to his alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss. It is highly unlikely that Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, will be able to face trial before next November’s election.

The decision came in Trump’s appeal of a lower court ruling rejecting his claim of immunity.

“A great victory for our Constitution and democracy,” Trump said on social media minutes after the decision.

Trump is the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe Biden in the US elections on November 5, in a rematch from four years ago. The court’s slow handling of the case had already helped Trump by making it unlikely that any trial on these charges brought by Jack Smith could be completed before the election.

“At least with respect to the president’s exercise of his basic constitutional powers, this immunity must be absolute,” reads the Court’s decision. “The President does not enjoy immunity for his unofficial acts and not everything he does is official. The president is not above the law. But Congress cannot criminalize the conduct of the President in carrying out the responsibilities of the Branch. Executive”.

The former president had argued that he has immunity from prosecution because he was serving as president when he took the actions that led to the charges. Smith had opposed presidential immunity from prosecution based on the principle that no one is above the law.

For its part, the Biden campaign reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision by assuring that it “does not change the facts” of what happened in the Capitol takeover on January 6, 2021. “Donald Trump exploded after losing the 2020 election and encouraged a mob to overturn the results of a free and fair election,” they said in a statement. written statements.

The ruling marked the first time since the nation’s founding in the 18th century that the Supreme Court has declared that former presidents can be protected from criminal charges in any instance.

The court’s 6-3 conservative majority includes three justices appointed by Trump. Smith’s election subversion charges represent one of four criminal cases Trump has faced.

“Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of presidential power entitles the former president to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted that granting immunity from prosecution to former presidents “reshapes the institution of the presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, fundamental to our Constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law.”

A divided public

Hours after the Supreme Court’s decision, supporters and opponents of Trump arrived outside the headquarters of the highest federal court in Washington to express their opinions on the action.

“They made the right decision,” he told Voice of America Michael O’Neill, Trump supporter. The war veteran also claimed to have questions about what an “unofficial act of a president” means because, in his opinion, “from the time a president takes his oath until the time the next president is sworn in, he is in a capacity official”.

Next to O’Neill, the former president’s detractors shouted that he cannot be immune to legal action. “I’m a Democrat, we heard the facts,” said a Washington state resident in response to O’Neill’s remarks.

The Supreme Court’s decision on the Trump matter occurred on the last day of the deadline to rule on pending cases, as his current term ends on Monday.

[Celia Mendoza, periodista de la Voz de América en Washington, contribuyó a este informe]

[Con información de Reuters y Associated Press]

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