Supreme Court gives president more power

AFTENBLADET believes: Giving the US president more power and placing him above the law will undoubtedly weaken democracy.

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This is a leader. The manager expresses the opinions and analysis of Stavanger Aftenblad.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday concluded its case against former President Donald Trump for attempting to undermine the results of the November 2020 presidential election.

Trump’s lawyers sought to have the indictment dismissed on the grounds that the president enjoys absolute immunity for anything he does while in office.

Both the federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected this argument. They concluded that the essence of the rule of law is that no one, not even the president, is above the law. The Supreme Court, on the other hand, concluded that the president has immunity for official actions taken while in office.

According to the Supreme Court’s statement, former President Donald Trump must therefore abandon all conversations with Justice Department employees and attempts to have the Justice Department investigate allegations of election fraud.

The Supreme Court concluded that the president is still not immune from private lawsuits.

As a result, they sent parts of the case back to federal court in Washington, where it will determine whether Trump’s attempt to get Vice President Mike Pence to block election certification, Trump’s role in appointing fake election representatives and his actions before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress constituted a crime.

The decision will be delayed and can be appealed if Trump’s lawyers do not prevail, so it is unlikely to be finalized before the fall election.

“A great victory for our Constitution and democracy. Proud to be an American,” Donald Trump wrote on his social network Truth Society After reaching the conclusion. But not everyone agrees with this.

The case was decided by six votes to three.

Supreme Court Justice John G. Roberts, speaking for the majority, argued that the decision did not mean the president was above the law, while a minority of judges argued the decision “transformed the American presidency” and challenged democracy.

During multiple rounds of court proceedings, people pointed out several very problematic aspects of granting the president extended immunity. For example, what would happen if the president ordered the military to stage a coup? Or could the president be impeached for ordering special forces to kill a political opponent?

There is no doubt that this decision by the US Supreme Court gives the US president more power. If Trump wins the election in November, he will be free to use this power. This is disturbing.