On Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court agreed to decide whether former President Donald Trump can be tried on criminal charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The matter arose from an indictment involving Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob attacked the Capitol. On Feb. 6, 2024, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that Trump could be prosecuted for his acts while president. The Supreme Court will affirm the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals and hold that Trump is not above the law and is not immune from prosecution.
The opinion of the Court of Appeals is dispositive. The judges, one appointed by President George W. Bush and two appointed by President Joe Biden, ruled first that federal courts have jurisdiction over a former president. See Midland Asphalt Corporation v. United States. The court explained that unlike the speech or debate clause of the Constitution, which offers immunity for speech or debate, there is no specific immunity clause in the Constitution for illegal acts.
The court reasoned that if the Founding Fathers had wanted to provide immunity for a president or former president for criminal actions, they would have done so. They did not. Top line: A former president can be prosecuted. The court ruled that the executive branch is not immune from oversight by the judicial branch. On matters of law, the judicial branch is supreme. The Court of Appeals also ruled that Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 were outside his duties. The House of Representatives has the responsibility for counting the votes of the Electoral College and for certifying the election.
The executive branch is not involved in that function. The Court of Appeals said, “We reject all bases for immunity as a categorical defense for federal criminal prosecutions of former presidents.” The court explained, “No man in this country is so high that he is above the law, no officer of the law may set that law at defiance with impunity. All the officers of the government, from the highest to the lowest, are creatures of the law and are bound to obey it.” See United States v. Lee.
Again, the Supreme Court will rule that Trump is not immune from prosecution. That said, why did the court take the case and involve itself in this controversy?
Because it is the highest court of the land. The case is important. It will put its stamp on the matter: No person is above the law. Predictably, people on the Left are whining that the court’s decision to take the appeal will delay the criminal prosecution of Trump. They worry that when the case returns to the trial court, that court will delay the trial until after the presidential election in November. The Left fears that if Trump were to win in November, then under the guidelines of the Department of Justice, he would be immune from prosecution until his term of office would end in January 2029.
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The Left also worries that if Trump were elected and were to become president again, he would use his pardon power to pardon himself. What the Left does not understand is that the law is more important than who wins an election. The court’s job is to decide the law, not to intrude itself in the process of presidential elections. The court is above politics. Progressives and right-wing populists do not understand that.
They do not understand that the rule of law is rightly supreme.
