WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled for the first time Monday that former presidents enjoy some immunity from prosecution, delaying the criminal case in Washington against Donald Trump on charges of planned to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election and there are virtually no prospects that the former president can be tried before the November elections.
In a historic 6-3 verdictthe justices sent Trump’s case back to the trial court to determine what remains of special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment against Trump. The outcome means additional delay before Trump can appear in court.
The court’s decision in a second major case against Trump this semester, along with the ruling rejecting efforts to keep him off the ballot for his actions after the 2020 election, it underscores the direct and potentially uncomfortable role the justices play in the November election.
“Under our constitutional structure of separate powers, the nature of presidential power entitles a former president to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his decisive and exclusive constitutional authority,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court. “And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all of his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.”
Roberts was joined by the other five conservative justices. The three liberal justices disagreed.
“Today’s decision to grant criminal immunity to former presidents reforms the institution of the presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, fundamental to our Constitution and our system of government, that no one is above the law,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a scathing dissent.
Sotomayor, who read a summary of her dissent aloud in court, said the court’s protections for presidents are “as bad as it sounds, and baseless.”
Shortly after the decision was announced, Trump posted on his social media network: “GREAT VICTORY FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY. PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
Smith’s office declined to comment on the ruling.
The ruling was the last of the term and came more than two months after the court heard arguments, much more slowly than in other epic Supreme Court cases involving the presidency, including the Watergate tapes case.
The Republican former president has denied any wrongdoing and has said this prosecution and three others are politically motivated to try to keep him from returning to the White House.
In May, Trump became the first former president to do so convicted of a crime, in a New York court. He was found guilty of falsifying company records to cover up a hush money payment made during the 2016 presidential election to a porn actor who says she had sex with him, which he denies. He is still confronted three other charges.
Blacksmith is leading the two federal investigations into the former president, both of which resulted in criminal charges. The Washington case focuses on Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. The case in Florida revolves around the mishandling of classified documents. The other case, in Georgia, also centers on Trump’s actions after his 2020 defeat.
If Trump’s trial in Washington does not take place before the 2024 election and he does not get another four years in the White House, he will likely stand trial shortly thereafter.
But if he wins, he can appoint an attorney general who will pursue dismissal of this case and the other federal charges he faces. He could also try to pardon himself if he regains the White House. He cannot pardon himself for sentencing in New York state court.
The Supreme Court that heard the case consisted of three Trump-appointed justices — Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — and two justices who chose not to step aside after questions were raised about their impartiality.
The wife of Judge Clarence Thomas, Ginnyattended the White House rally where Trump spoke on January 6, 2021, though she did not go to the Capitol at the time a gang of Trump supporters attacked it shortly afterward. After the 2020 election, she called it a “robbery” and exchanged messages with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to remain steadfast with Trump as he falsely claimed widespread election fraud.
Justice Samuel Alito said that there no reason for him to step aside the cases following reports from The New York Times that flags similar to those used by the January 6 rioters flew over his homes in Virginia and on the New Jersey coast. His wife, Martha-Ann Alito, was responsible for raising both the inverted American flag in January 2021 and the “Appeal to Heaven” banner in the summer of 2023, he said in letters to Democratic lawmakers in response to their demands for withdrawal.
Trump’s trial was scheduled to begin on March 4, but that was before he requested a court-sanctioned delay and a full review of the issue by the nation’s highest court.
Before the Supreme Court got involved, a trial judge and a three-judge appellate panel unanimously ruled that Trump could be prosecuted for actions he took while in the White House and leading up to January 6.
“For purposes of this criminal case, former President Trump has become Citizen Trump, with all the defenses of any other criminal defendant,” the appeals court wrote in February. “But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he was President no longer protects him from this prosecution.”
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkanwho would preside over the trial in Washington, ruled against Trump’s immunity claim in December. In her ruling, Chutkan said the office of president “does not confer a lifelong get-out-of-jail-free pass.”
“Former presidents enjoy no special conditions for their federal criminal liability,” Chutkan wrote. “The defendant is subject to federal investigation, indictment, prosecution, conviction and punishment for any criminal acts committed while in office.”