SCOTUS issued a ruling on Monday, July 1, 2024 that says US presidents are shielded from criminal prosecution when carrying out their "official duties."
© Josh Morgan + © Jack Gruber/USA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Washington, DC) – The Supreme Court has ruled that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution in cases where the chief executive is carrying out his or her official duties. This pertains to former President Trump and the legal cases that are pending against him. The nation’s highest court, in a 6-3 ruling, says Trump is immune from criminal charges in most instances while in office.
Of course, presidents are able to be impeached by Congress — something that happened to Trump twice. But from there the Senate must either acquit or convict, and Trump was acquitted both times by a Republican-led Senate.
This immunity decision arguably impacts Trump’s pending classified documents case and the January 6, so-called election interference case. But it does not impact the falsified business records conviction in New York City — for which Trump faces sentencing on July 11. He could be imprisoned, put on house arrest, or given probation.
Trump’s allies have called this a win for the former president. At the very least, it likely means his pending trials would not take place until after the November election. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a scathing dissent in which she suggested the court had OK’d any rogue action from a president — such as ordering an assassination. She added her dissent was rooted in protecting democracy. But many legal scholars have argued the idea of presidential immunity is tantamount to the separation of powers and a functioning democracy.
