US Supreme Court liberals lament ruling making the president 'a king above the law'; Reuters, July 1, 2024

Will Dunham, Reuters ; US Supreme Court liberals lament ruling making the president 'a king above the law'

"The president of the United States has been elevated to the status of "a king above the law." The occupant of the White House may order assassinations of political rivals without fear of prosecution. America's leader may now be insulated from criminal consequences for whatever he or she wants to do in office.

That is what U.S. Supreme Court liberals said in dissent to Monday's landmark decision recognizing for the first time broad immunity from prosecution for former presidents."

God save us from this dishonorable court; The Washington Post, July 1, 2024

 Ruth Marcus, The Washington Post; God save us from this dishonorable court

"Smith’s office is now consigned to assess the tatters in which the court’s ruling has left its prosecution and determine, like a homeowner after a tornado has touched down, what can be salvaged.

The country is now left to worry about whether Trump will ever be held accountable — and about the implications of the court’s ruling for future presidents, including, most chillingly, Trump himself.

As Jackson wrote in a separate dissent, “Having now cast the shadow of doubt over when — if ever — a former President will be subject to criminal liability for any criminal conduct he engages in while on duty, the majority incentivizes all future Presidents to cross the line of criminality while in office, knowing that unless they act ‘manifestly or palpably beyond [their] authority,’ they will be presumed above prosecution and punishment alike.”

Sotomayor was similarly apocalyptic. “With fear for our democracy, I dissent,” she closed her dissent. Both Sotomayor and Jackson abandoned the customary “respectfully” — for good reason.

God knows what a reelected Trump would do in a second term. God save us from this dishonorable court."

The Supreme Court’s Immunity Ruling is a Victory for Donald Trump; The New Yorker, July 1, 2024

Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker; The Supreme Court’s Immunity Ruling is a Victory for Donald Trump

"The conservative majority answered their alarm with sarcasm, dismissiveness, and, perhaps most disturbingly, glorification of the personage of the President—swooning about a “vigorous” and “energetic” executive while warning of the dangers of one who is “feeble.” (Those words, in light of Biden’s debate struggles, might provoke a range of painful reflections.) Roberts wrote, of the dissents, “They strike a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the Court actually does today.” He’s wrong about that. The Court went further than it would have needed to, even if the goal was simply shielding Trump from Jack Smith."