The US Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump may seek immunity from criminal prosecution for some of the conduct he took in the last days of his presidency.
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that former US President Donald Trump can seek immunity from criminal prosecution for some of the conduct he took in the last days of his government. The judgement will most likely postpone a trial on federal election subversion charges, which are currently pending against him.
In a historic 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court reversed the 2020 election results by rejecting a federal appeals court's February conclusion that Trump was not immune from prosecution for crimes he may have committed during his president.
"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," according to CNN's Chief Justice John Roberts. "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,” Roberts added on his Monday opinion.
While Roberts was joined by five conservative judges, three liberal judges dissented.
In a stinging dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor claimed that Trump's criminal immunity fundamentally changes the institution of the administration. "It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law."
In court, Sotomayor claimed that the court's protection of presidents "is just as bad as it sounds, and it is baseless".
The Supreme Court heard arguments for more than two months before issuing its final decision of the term, which was substantially slower than in other major high court cases involving the president, such as the Watergate tapes.