- The Supreme Court has ruled that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for all official acts.
- Justice Sotomayor said in a dissenting opinion that the ruling was too broad.
- “Order Navy Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune,” she wrote.
In her dissenting opinion to the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the conservative majority has allowed presidents to assassinate political rivals without fear of criminal prosecution.
In a 6-3 decision released Friday that fell along ideological lines, the court concluded that presidents enjoy “absolute immunity from criminal prosecution” for actions taken within their constitutional authority and at least “presumptive immunity.” for all other official acts.
Sotomayor, along with liberal colleagues Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, argued that the ruling created a “law-free zone around the president.”
“When he uses his official powers in any way, the majority reasoned, he will now be exempt from criminal prosecution,” Sotomayor wrote. “Order Navy Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organize a military coup to stay in power? Immune. Accept bribes in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.”
“Even if these nightmare scenarios never come to fruition, and I pray they never do, the damage has already been done,” she continued. “The relationship between the President and the people he serves has changed irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”
The ruling came as a result of a lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump, who faces federal charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s lawyers argued that he was immune from criminal prosecution for those efforts because they were fell within the scope of their official functions.
The court’s decision represents a victory for Trump. The conservative majority concluded that some of his actions, including his efforts to use the Justice Department to pressure states to replace certain state electors with pro-Trump electors, are “absolutely immune” from lawsuits.
But other aspects of that effort, including his communications with state officials, could be subject to prosecution: it would be up to a lower court to decide.
