@cspanofficial: The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that former President Trump has some immunity from prosecution on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election. In a 6–3 decision that broke along ideological lines, the court said former presidents have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for clearly “official acts,” but “no immunity” for “unofficial acts.” The decision sends the case back to the trial court where U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan must decide which acts in the allegations constitute “official acts” and which are private ones taken in his capacity as a presidential candidate. The move all but ensures the federal criminal case against Mr. Trump will not go to trial before the November election. Special Counsel Jack Smith last August indicted Mr. Trump on three counts of conspiracy and one count of obstructing an official proceeding related to his efforts to remain in power after his 2020 election loss, which culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Mr. Trump argued he was entitled to absolute immunity from the charges, relying on a broad understanding of the separation of powers. Two lower courts rejected that argument, and Mr. Trump appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case in April. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said the president “is not above the law” but that Congress may not criminalize the president’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the executive branch. “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,” he wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissenting opinion, called the majority’s decision “utterly indefensible” and predicted it would have “disastrous consequences” for the presidency and American democracy. “It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law,” she wrote, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. #supremecourt #scotus #trump #cspan

C-SPAN

Open In TikTok:

Region: US

Monday 01 July 2024 16:00:22 GMT