“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 exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.
“Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law. Moving forward, however, all former Presidents will be cloaked in such immunity.
“If the occupant of that office misuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must abide will not provide a backstop. With fear for our democracy, I dissent.” – Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in today’s dissent.
The Economist Democracy Index ranks the US as a flawed democracy, and its index score has been on a decline for several decades (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index). This recent ruling by SCOTUS can only hasten the decline at a faster rate. How long before the US declines to a ranking of hybrid regime and finds itself ranking alongside nations such as Bangladesh, Malawi and Peru, or worse?
Even if Trump isn’t the one directly responsible for such a decline, the powers now granted to presidents by the court more or less guarantees that sooner or later a president will take advantage of their immunity to turn the US into an authoritarian state.
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Hi Barry. You are correct I fear. I really think what will have to happen is the people have to vote overwhelming Democrat and then restructure the courts and pass laws requiring them to observe ethics rules. Thomas and Alito should have recused themselves, which would have stopped this ruling. Thomas’s wife help bus people to the capital on Jan 6th and helped organize the riot. Alito flew the flag of the insurrectionists. They were not impartial at all. I don’t know what will happen. I am 61 and my spouse is 79. We may not have long to suffer in a dystopian US but we will suffer if the right gets control. We will have to move to a state that has some protections for the LGBTQ+ until the federal government takes them away from even those states. Bleak times ahead I fear. Best wishes. Scottie
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