This week the Supreme Court handed down a decision in Donald J. Trump v. United States that ruled official presidential actions are immune from prosecution, effectively shielding him from accountability for crimes committed while in office, and paving the way for him to be the dictator he states he wants to be.
Trump or any future tyrant could even avoid criminal consequences for assassinating a political rival, as happens in other autocracies around the world. This decision makes a mockery of our legal system, and destroys public trust in our country.
Here are just a few comments on the decision:
This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each — each of us is equal before the law. No one — no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States.
–President Joe Biden
With fear for our democracy, I dissent.
–Justice Sonia Sotomayor
In America, no one should be above the law. But this Supreme Court’s majority — including three of Trump’s hand-picked Justices — just sent a message to Donald Trump and any other would-be dictator that, as Justice Sotomayor dissented: The President is now a king above the law.
–Senator Tammy Duckworth
In ruling that Donald Trump is ‘absolutely immune from prosecution for the alleged conduct involving his discussions with Justice Department officials,’ the Court has stripped the Justice Department of its valued independence and undermined its commitment to the rule of law.
–Senator Dick Durbin
Because the risks (and power) the Court has now assumed are intolerable, unwarranted, and plainly antithetical to bedrock constitutional norms, I dissent.
–Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
This appalling Supreme Court decision flies in the face of a foundational principle of our nation and our constitution: that no one is above the law. This ruling threatens to allow a would-be dictator to use the office of the President to act with absolute impunity, hiding behind the guise of ‘official acts.’ Our founders risked their lives to build a nation governed by the many, not a king. Rather than bravely putting country first and following the Constitution, six partisan justices instead shamefully bowed to the man who seeks to bend our government to his whim. This is a low mark for the Supreme Court and the cowardice of the justices will cause devastating harm to the foundation of our nation. As Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dissent — I fear for our democracy.
–Rep. Brad Schneider
No person, not even a president ought to be above the law.
–Governor JB Pritzker
