US Supreme Court: Trump has “absolute immunity” for official acts | BBC News

The US Supreme Court has said Donald Trump and other former presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for official acts, in a major legal victory for the Republican White House candidate.

The decision makes it less likely that the Republican candidate will stand trial before he challenges Democratic President Joe Biden in November's White House election.

It is the first time since the nation's founding that the Supreme Court has declared former presidents can be shielded from criminal charges.

The justices found that a president is not immune for "unofficial acts”. The 6-3 ruling did not dismiss outright an indictment that charges Trump with plotting to overturn the 2020 election, but it did strip away key elements of the case against him.

The three liberal justices on the Supreme Court dissented strongly from the ruling, expressing “fear for our democracy”. “The President is now a king above the law,” wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Sophie Raworth presents BBC News at Ten reporting by Sarah Smith in Washington.

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[tunite]

I am having trouble telling the difference between the United States and a banana republic fascist institution.

[cernpnb]

Notice how it all came together, no need for any immunity till a criminal shows up... 😮

[fatalflaw]

does Biden get to do whatever he wants now?

[featherfiend]

I lean conservative and still find this insane. If we were to go back in time to Bush’s presidency, this translates to meaning that he wouldn’t need to think twice about lying to Congress about WMDs. He got away with it anyways unfortunately, but this ruling just emboldens the president to do even more things like that. Could the president now call for a political assassination as an official duty? The fact that this idea now is moved into a gray area is horrible.

[shuaty]

We left a king to make a king apparently.

[kirishima]

‘Land of the Free’…to commit federal crimes.

[astrodysseus]

And remind me again who nominated Kavanaugh at the supreme court ? Trump. You have to give it to him, he thinks long term investment. The fact that presidents can nominate supreme court judges to judge their own case is flawed to say the least..

[abberepair]

Biden should be thinking very, very hard and long about his new power!

[letitbesummer]

Authoritarianism. Wonderful & they’re trying to make it happen here too

[braderickson]

As a citizen, on behalf of the United States of America, we went from Washington to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan to Obama to...well...this.
History will mark this day, where we crossed the rubicon, and sadly, I was alive to witness it.
Remember us, when we were the bearer of the standard.

[sandybowyer]

Big brother is watching you ! 👀. Read George Orwell's 1984 not a good time to be born 😪 !!

[scroggins]

Well that makes a mockery of any definition of the law. God help America. Just when one thinks it could not get any worse... It did!

[getinthevan]

As an American I'm just embarrassed to be a citizen right now

[cernpnb]

...what a dark future for america... 😮

[cernpnb]

America is finished, watch what happens now... 😮

[aaronTNGDS]

Congress and Law Schools across the country must publicly denounce SCOTUS and make haste to impeach every Conservative SCOTUS Justice. Declaring the Federalist Society a terrorist outfit wouldn't be that far off the mark and would be appreciated.

[blandiblue]

Didnt you have like 4 years to prosecute him? Maybe you should have done that asap instead of waiting for elections to get electoral value out of the trials.

[chiapohjoo]

As mentioned before, DT is above the law and ultimately will not be sentenced to prison.

[qman]

The American people have had 250 years to develop institutions that protect and serve their fellow citizens. Why, in all that time, didn't they put rules in place that prevented the removal of supreme court judges, when those judges demonstrated their susceptibility to political bias, corruption, incompetence, criminal activity (or in the current case a combination of two or more of those vices)?

Didn't it occur to any of the stewards of American democracy, that they might one day get saddled with a power-crazed liar of a President that had an opportunity to populate the justice system with pliable, venal cronies?

The potential for the current train-wreck materialising, was discussed years ago during the Trump presidency when he selected clearly unsuitable candidates for the office ... and still nothing was done to introduce a mechanism of judicial restraint to protect the people.

Is it any wonder that Americans (collectively) are so often referred to with the prefix - 'dumb'.

[bobrobertson]

Thats the USA officially a Banana Republic. Fascism in the USA. Who would have thought it.