Sonia Sotomayor Pens Fearful Dissent in Trump Immunity Case, Saying Decision Makes Him ‘King Above the Law’
“Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune,” the Supreme Court justice wrote
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Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and former President Donald TrumpThe Supreme Court's decision to grant Donald Trump — and all U.S. presidents — absolute immunity from "official" presidential acts has one justice fearful for democracy.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 70, wrote in a powerful dissenting opinion on Monday, July 1, that shielding Trump from prosecution for his White House actions sets a precedent that U.S. commanders-in-chief can abuse their powers without facing punishment.
"When [a president] uses his official powers in any way, under the majority's reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution," she writes. "Orders the Navy's Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune."
"The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law"
Justice Sonia Sotomayor
She continued by claiming that with the conservative justices' ruling, they are essentially incentivizing presidents to break the law.
"Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority's message today," she said.
"Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done," she added. "The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law."
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Donald TrumpThe Supreme Court case that was decided on July 1 centered around whether Trump can be tried on four felony counts for allegedly attempting to undo Joe Biden's 2020 presidential win.
The charges, which were revealed in an indictment last August, accused Trump of trying to convince his own Justice Department, former Vice President Mike Pence, and state and local officials that they should overturn the election in his favor.
Trump argued that he has immunity from criminal prosecution over actions he performed during his presidency.
The court agreed, in part, ruling in a 6-3 decision on ideological lines that presidents do enjoy total immunity from any actions performed in their "official" capacity as president. "Unofficial acts" can be prosecuted, they said, though very few things a president does are considered unofficial.
The Supreme Court's ruling now kicks the case back down to a lower court to determine whether any of the allegations in Trump's Jan. 6 case fall under the category of "unofficial" acts, and whether a fair Jan. 6 trial could move forward with the Supreme Court's ideology in mind.
In the official dissent, which was co-signed by liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sotomayor argued that the court's ruling has implications far beyond Trump himself because it "effectively creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding."
"This new official-acts immunity now 'lies about like a loaded weapon' for any President that wishes to place his own interests, his own political survival, or his own financial gain, above the interests of the Nation," she added.
Related: Every Crime Donald Trump Has Been Charged With, Explained
If Trump were to be elected again in November, he would begin his presidency with a permission slip to carry forward with some of the retribution he's alluded to on the 2024 campaign trail.
Perhaps most telling of the possible ramifications is how Sotomayor signed her opinion: "With fear for our democracy, I dissent."
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