Post by DrSchadenfreude on Apr 27, 2024 10:54:08 GMT -5
A Supreme Court Justice Gave Us Alarming New Evidence That He’s Living in MAGA World
slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/supreme-court-trump-immunity-arguments-alito-maga.html
BY DAHLIA LITHWICK AND MARK JOSEPH STERN
APRIL 27, 20248:00 AM
The Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in Trump v. United States, a challenge to special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Donald Trump for election subversion related to Jan. 6. The former president argues that he has absolute “presidential immunity” for the “official acts” he undertook while attempting to overturn the election, rendering the prosecution against him largely unconstitutional. Despite the total lack of any known constitutional basis for this theory, the Supreme Court’s conservatives received it favorably, suggesting that they will further delay and undermine Trump’s eventual federal trial.
On this week’s episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick spoke about the arguments with Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern and Stanford Law professor Pam Karlan, who previously served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Below is an excerpt of their conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity. To listen to the full episode , join Slate Plus.
Dahlia Lithwick: Justice Alito trotted out this theme that was kind of bone-chilling: He said “we all want” a “stable democratic society,” and nothing could be worse for democracy than holding a president to account, because that will “lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy.” As if democracy requires giving immunity to criminal presidents because otherwise they won’t leave office. This was when I went through the looking glass—it literally felt like “don’t make me hit you again” democracy.
Pam Karlan: That was the moment where I felt like saying, “That’s what just happened!” This is not something that might happen in the future. It’s what already happened! And if you let people get away with it, what you’ve said to Donald Trump is, “If you win the 2024 election, don’t bother leaving office in 2029—just stay there.” I mean, that’s really what the Supreme Court would be saying: There’s not going to be any crime if you try to stay there. It wasn’t just through the looking glass. I thought, Did you hear what just came out of your mouth?
slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/supreme-court-trump-immunity-arguments-alito-maga.html
BY DAHLIA LITHWICK AND MARK JOSEPH STERN
APRIL 27, 20248:00 AM
The Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday in Trump v. United States, a challenge to special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Donald Trump for election subversion related to Jan. 6. The former president argues that he has absolute “presidential immunity” for the “official acts” he undertook while attempting to overturn the election, rendering the prosecution against him largely unconstitutional. Despite the total lack of any known constitutional basis for this theory, the Supreme Court’s conservatives received it favorably, suggesting that they will further delay and undermine Trump’s eventual federal trial.
On this week’s episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick spoke about the arguments with Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern and Stanford Law professor Pam Karlan, who previously served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Below is an excerpt of their conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity. To listen to the full episode , join Slate Plus.
Dahlia Lithwick: Justice Alito trotted out this theme that was kind of bone-chilling: He said “we all want” a “stable democratic society,” and nothing could be worse for democracy than holding a president to account, because that will “lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy.” As if democracy requires giving immunity to criminal presidents because otherwise they won’t leave office. This was when I went through the looking glass—it literally felt like “don’t make me hit you again” democracy.
Pam Karlan: That was the moment where I felt like saying, “That’s what just happened!” This is not something that might happen in the future. It’s what already happened! And if you let people get away with it, what you’ve said to Donald Trump is, “If you win the 2024 election, don’t bother leaving office in 2029—just stay there.” I mean, that’s really what the Supreme Court would be saying: There’s not going to be any crime if you try to stay there. It wasn’t just through the looking glass. I thought, Did you hear what just came out of your mouth?