Washington (Reuters)
The US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Donald Trump cannot be sued for any actions that fall within his constitutional powers as president but can be sued for private conduct, in a landmark ruling that for the first time recognizes some form of presidential immunity from prosecution.
In a 6-3 ruling written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the justices rejected a lower court’s decision to reject Trump’s claim of immunity from federal criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. The six conservative justices in the majority, while the three liberal justices dissented.
Trump is the Republican candidate who is competing with Biden, the Democrat, in the US elections scheduled for November 5, in a repeat of what happened in the 2020 presidential race.
The Supreme Court’s slow response to the case, coupled with its decision to send key questions about the scope of Trump’s immunity back to the lower courts, makes it unlikely that he will be tried before the next election on the charges of subverting the previous election, brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
“The nature of presidential power requires that a former president enjoy some immunity from criminal prosecution for official conduct during his term,” Justice Roberts wrote.
Roberts went on to say that immunity for former presidents is “absolute” with respect to “the core of their constitutional powers” and that a former president has “at least presumptive immunity” with respect to “acts outside the perimeter of his official responsibility,” meaning prosecutors face a high legal bar to override it.
Roberts said presidents should “carry out the duties of their office fearlessly and properly” without the threat of prosecution.
“With respect to the unofficial actions of the president, there is no immunity,” Roberts added.
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