this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2024
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[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 136 points 4 months ago (7 children)

And they've also argued that ordering assassinations of political rivals are official acts.

So now Biden has the best opportunity of all time to clean and prevent the fascist right wing usurpation of the nation.

[–] Blackbeard@lemmy.world 77 points 4 months ago (15 children)

I mean, that's what this comes to, right? If he ordered Seal Team Six to storm Mar-A-Lago to recover classified materials with deadly force, then he's operating in order to maintain national security via his authority as Commander in Chief. That would be legal under this ruling, correct?

I get that would lead to an actual civil war, and I get that their argument is important to shield the office from neverending frivolous lawsuits, but in being forced to rule so explicitly on this it seems like they've opened the door to political assassinations. All a President would need is a willing wing of the military and a superficial rationalization and there'd be nothing a court in this country could do about it.

Please, someone tell me I'm missing something.

[–] die444die@lemmy.world 61 points 4 months ago

“When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune,” Sotomayor wrote.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 57 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

You're missing that the Supreme Court is taking the piss and the District Court they're kicking this back to has already done their homework and defined the official acts versus unofficial acts. They're ret-2-go but the Supreme's did their job of punting this until at least October, since that's when they come back from vacation. So when the District Court punts it back up the chain to the Supreme Court, they have to wait for the Supreme Court to reconvene. It's fucking stupid, but it accomplished getting Trump nothing but a legal time-out.

Oh, ALSO:

Testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing such conduct may not be admitted as evidence at trial.

They literally fucked us out of a ton of evidence with this part of the ruling.

[–] doubtingtammy@lemmy.ml 30 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The main thing you're missing is that the words of the court are meaningless. They'll always be able to use the next ruling to bend the outcome to the conservatives' whims.

This is a government of men, not laws. Always has been.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 18 points 4 months ago

"When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."

Of course that's only for Republican presidents. The Supreme Court has already shown that they don't care about precedent, so if Biden does something, it'll come back up and they'll find it was not an official act and can be prosecuted, no matter what it was.

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[–] xtr0n@sh.itjust.works 25 points 4 months ago (1 children)

He didn’t want to pack the court so I’m not holding out hope that he’d empty the court either. Obviously assassinating justices would completely fuck the country up, but one could argue that the current justices are slow playing us into a fascist dictatorship.

[–] WanderingVentra@lemm.ee 15 points 4 months ago

Well, they're doing it faster and faster lately...

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[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 62 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (4 children)

I posted this in another thread.

I am really confused about this ruling.

“But under our system of separated powers, the President may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for his official acts.”

He's not being prosecuted for exercising core constitutional powers or official acts. He's being prosecuted for election fraud, inciting an insurrectionist mob and mishandling classified documents. None of those are core constitutional powers and they clearly can't be official acts.

Edit: I just love this part-

Without immunity, Trump's lawyer said, sitting presidents would face "blackmail and extortion" by political rivals due to the threat of future prosecution.

Trump just faces blackmail and extortion from his political allies. Like Vladimir Putin.

[–] FireTower@lemmy.world 21 points 4 months ago (2 children)

They sent it back down to the lower courts because they need to determine if he was acting officially. If he was acting outside of an official constitutional capacity he is criminally responsible. If he was doing his official duties with in the constitution he's alright.

It'll probably end up with him hit with some charges and avoiding others.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 19 points 4 months ago (6 children)

Why does this need to be determined? He wasn't. He just wasn't. Nothing he is being charged with is constitutional, which is the point.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (7 children)

Devil's Advocate: It's been needing to be determined since fucking Nixon left office, and our entire government has been waffling about it for 70 years, because it's a question they don't actually want answered. It's only convenient to them now as a reason to give Trump a legal time-out so he can make it to the election without more indictments.

The District Court in question has already defined official versus unofficial acts, which is part of why the SC released this so late on fucking purpose. Because even though the DC is ready to go with their findings, they'll have to wait until October to kick it back up the chain to the Supreme Court when Trump inevitably appeals.

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[–] dhork@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Some of the evidence that Jack Smith has put together involve some form of Trump's official capacity. for instance, the Times notes that one of the points of the prosecution was that Trump tried to get Jeffrey Clark installed as acting AG in the days before Jan 6, presumably because he would go along with the coup. One of the findings of the Court is that appointments like that are within the President's direct duties, and can't be used as evidence against him, even if it can be proven that the appointment was made to directly piss on the Constitution Trump swore to protect.

The Times also notes that Trump's pressure campaign on Pence is similarly protected now.

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[–] Fades@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

because they need to determine if he was acting officially.

this was already ruled on, reelection campaign is NOT an official capacity thing PERIOD. This move is nothing but another delay to ensure this shit falls on a date post-election

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[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 44 points 4 months ago (2 children)

After stalling just long enough to make it a problem that won't be resolved before the election. Wonderful.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

And also making it so that you can't actually use a ton of the gathered evidence:

Testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing such conduct may not be admitted as evidence at trial.

I think this is the part that's going to fuck up the rest of Trump's trials. Everything is going to suddenly be a private record.

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[–] fubarx@lemmy.ml 42 points 4 months ago (4 children)

And going forward, who decides what's an official vs. unofficial Presidential act?

[–] Evilcoleslaw@lemmy.world 30 points 4 months ago (1 children)
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[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 40 points 4 months ago (3 children)

2021-01-02 Trump on a call with Georgia election officials asked them "All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state."

Not an official act on any planet in this solar system, how is this not a loss for Trump?

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 21 points 4 months ago

The court decides which acts are official. They will declare whatever they want official. "He was doing it in his capacity as president to protect the election. He knew he won, so the votes must just be missing."

[–] irotsoma@lemmy.world 17 points 4 months ago

Problem is that with this, proving that it fell under one power basically means all other laws, even ones that specifically were meant to restrict that power, are meaningless. What he did could be 100% illegal, but he can't be prosecuted for it, so he can't be removed from office or punished after he leaves office.

If he was making that call as the official president of the United States, speaking in an official capacity, then it doesn't matter if the order he gives is illegal if it was within his power to order the Governor of a state to do anything at all. If it's not in his power for him to give an order to the Governor, then he just has to say it was an official suggestion as the president of the US. There's no restriction that says a president can't suggest that the Governor of a state does something to benefit the president. Doesn't matter that the thing he asked for was illegal because it can't be questioned in court at all to determine its legality.

Now it depends on if the Governor were to actually do it. And if as president Trump decides to order the assassination of that Governor once he refused, that would not be prosecutable. The assassin would be the only one who could be punished for the illegal act.

Immunity from prosecution doesn't mean the thing you're doing isn't legal, it means that no one has the right to punish you for that act. It's still unethical to break the law, but there is no enforceable consequence.

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[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 39 points 4 months ago (1 children)

So, has there been a more monumentally catastrophic series of rulings like we've had this week?

Presidents are kings and immune to the law

Kickbacks are now legal

Executive agencies completely destroyed

I know other individual rulings may be worse, but in this case the series of rulings.

[–] EatATaco@lemm.ee 26 points 4 months ago (12 children)

And they are all thanks to the fact that trump, not Clinton, got to appoint 3 to justices.

And there are still people who think voting for a third party is a good idea.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 35 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

So..

Fuck Trump obviously. And everyone who voted for him. (Edit and fuck everyone in the voting doesn't matter camp)

Also fuck Mitch McConnell

But god damnit, fuck Obama for not fighting Mitch, and fuck Ruth for not retiring when she should have.

[–] EatATaco@lemm.ee 10 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I don't know what Obama could have done, but i absolutely agree that rbg should have stepped down in the middle of her term.

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[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 36 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

(3) Presidents cannot be indicted based on conduct for which they are immune from prosecution. On remand, the District Court must carefully analyze the indictment’s remaining allegations to determine whether they too involve conduct for which a President must be immune from prosecution. And the parties and the District Court must ensure that sufficient allegations support the indictment’s charges without such conduct. Testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing such conduct may not be admitted as evidence at trial. Pp. 30–32

This is how fucked we are. Right here.

Testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing such conduct may not be admitted as evidence at trial.

So nevermind all that evidence you have of them planning it out in the open. Inadmissible in trial!

Get fucked Supreme Cunts.

[–] Blackbeard@lemmy.world 20 points 4 months ago

So then nothing a President ever does can be considered premeditated. This timeline is fucking insane.

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 32 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

"My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel,"

This was the moment for the the United States where we all start "ride a camel" again. "The American Republic" Apex is over.

[–] nomous@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago

I tell people as often as I can, especially my trans and bipoc friends; now is the time. Get a couple guns (a long one and a short one) and learn how to use them. Learn some basic first aid, you really just need to know how to stabilize someone. Start networking with like-minded people in your communities. The police will not protect us, they’ve proven they’ll happily club senior citizens to the ground and shoot any protesters in the face with rubber bullets while escorting a rightwing murderer to safety.

Iran was a secular, liberal state until almost 1980 when they (mostly legitimately) elected an Islamist theocracy; it could happen here

[–] jwiggler@sh.itjust.works 29 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

When are we going to protest. This is insanity.

Here is an excerpt from the dissent:

Looking beyond the fate of this particular prosecution, the long-term consequences of today’s decision are stark. The Court effectively creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding. This new official-acts immunity now “lies about like a loaded weapon” for any President that wishes to place his own interests, his own political survival, or his own financial gain, above the interests of the Nation. Korematsu v. United States, 323 U. S. 214, 246 (1944) (Jackson, J., dissenting). The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in ex- change for a pardon Immune. Immune, immune, immune.

Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today.

Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.

[–] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 27 points 4 months ago

The Supreme Court does what ever the hell they want so I guess the president should be able to do the same.

[–] njm1314@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago (1 children)

This is so much broader than the title is suggesting

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

When this first dropped, all the news media had kind of cautious titles. It wasn't until after their legal reporters actually read it that they started getting the point.

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[–] dhork@lemmy.world 19 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

After mulling this over for these few hours, I realize what this ruling really does is render the President unaccountable to his Oath of Office. Any official act is presumed to be totally legal by the courts, unless he is impeached and removed from office over it. Much of his communications with his staff is now also not subject to review anywhere but Congress, as part of a formal impeachment proceeding.

A President is now officially a king, restrained by no law in what he can use his office to do, as long as he has the support of half of the House, or 1/3 of the Senate.

[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago (1 children)

This ruling sounds good on its face, but it's mixed at best and somewhat bad in the broad view.

  1. It doesn't define what is or isn't an official duty or act. It gives some examples and then says it's up to the lower courts to decide what is or isn't on a case by case basis. It specifically said some of the current allegations are official acts that can't be prosecuted and said some of the others are probably not official acts but the lower courts will have to rule on them. I'm sure that will be a speedy process that gets done before the election!

  2. It also says it is the government's burden to prove an act isn't official, which will slow everything down and bring the cases back to SCOTUS again on a case by case basis. This also opens the possibility of political assassinations as being argued as official acts.

  3. It mentions Presidents having limited immunity from having to make documents available. It does say it isn't absolute, but it definitely leaves the door open to block current court cases from using many documents as evidence and also leaves the door open to claim immunity for the classified docs case. Evidence fights at the current criminal cases are about to be much harder for the prosecution to win. Now, it does say that former Presidents no longer have this immunity but isn't clear whether that is for all docs or only docs for after they are former Presidents.

  4. Maybe the worst is that it rules INTENT cannot be questioned. That is a core concept of criminal cases: intent matters! They are holding that it would bog down a President to be constantly asked about his/her intent when doing official acts, so therefor courts cannot question it. This REALLY opens the possibility of political assassinations, since intent behind the act cannot be questioned (e.g. it presupposes the person who was assassinated was committing treason or planning a terrorist attack and therefor the Presidential act was official). It does not say that former Presidents no longer have the Intent immunity, so this might be rough to clear in courts.

  5. It specifically ruled that it is 100% OK to fire a person if they don't do the illegal thing the President asks them to do, as long as that person's job is something the President can hire/fire. It also ruled that if the illegal thing the President asks them to do falls within their job duties, then the President is immune from prosecution for asking for that illegal thing.

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[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 12 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Biden can personally kill anyone at the supreme court and only lose his job now?

[–] die444die@lemmy.world 17 points 4 months ago (6 children)

“When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune,” Sotomayor wrote.

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[–] P1nkman@lemmy.world 11 points 4 months ago

America just got a MASSIVE step towards a dictator. WTAF is going on? I'm in the wrong timeline...

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

He could “officially” shoot someone on 5th Ave.

[–] FireTower@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf

Held: Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.

The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law.

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