The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling Monday that removes yet another roadblock for former President Donald Trump to glide back into the White House if elected in November.
The High Court determined that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for certain actions conducted while in office. This ruling will most likely delay a trial on the federal election subversion charges against him pertaining to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection.
The decision was 6-3, with the liberals in dissent. The court decided that former presidents are entitled to immunity from prosecution for official actions—but not private conduct.
The case — among the most anticipated before the Supreme Court this session — rejects a decision from a federal appeals court in February that found Trump did not have immunity for supposed crimes he committed during his presidential tenure to overrule the 2020 election results.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, which stated that presidents should have immunity for their official acts.
“We conclude that under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of presidential power requires that a former president have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during his tenure in office,” Roberts wrote.
“At least with respect to the president’s exercise of his core constitutional powers, this immunity must be absolute. The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law.”
In her dissent, Hon. Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the majority’s ruling “breaks new and dangerous ground” by giving immunity “only to the most powerful official in our Government.” She also noted that her conservative peers intentionally discarded the nation’s long-held principle that no one is above the law.
Trump’s legal team have called the court’s decision a “major victory.” However, Trump is still facing four criminal cases while working to win the White House from President Biden.
Next week, he has a sentencing hearing in his Stormy Daniels hush money case after being found guilty on all counts.