Headline Roundup • July 1st, 2024
Did Supreme Court Justices Make the Right Decision in Trump Immunity Case?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Writers across the spectrum weighed in on the Supreme Court ruling stating Trump has immunity for official acts.
From the Left: Jennifer Rubin (Lean Left bias), a columnist for The Washington Post (Lean Left bias), said the Supreme Court merely affirmed presidents donโt get blanket immunity, something โevery American already understood.โ Rubin, as well as some other left outlets, said this is a result of the courtโs conservative majority โchopping off part of the indictment.โ Outlets on the left tended to lay blame on conservative justices such as Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, claiming โthe public should be outragedโ because they have โaided and abetted Trumpโs escape from justice.โ
From the Right: The New York Sun Editorial Board (Right bias) said the ruling was โa political prosecution from the get-goโ and that this is โone example of why immunity is so essential for former presidents.โ Many outlets on the right focused on the notion that acting presidents must be able to operate without fear of prosecution, lest that fear hinder the actions of the sitting president. Outlets such as the National Review (Right bias) stated now is the time for Smith โto abandon his prosecution,โ considering the amount of time and changes to the case that will come due to the Supreme Court ruling.
Featured Coverage of this Story
One of the memorable moments in President Trumpโs 2016 campaign is the sneering question posed to him at the Democratsโ national convention โ โHave you even read the U.S. Constitution?โ Seems he has, weโd say, and never more so than this morning as the 45th president was found by the Supreme Court to have a better understanding of the Constitution than the 46th president, his attorney general, and an appeals circuit.

DREW ANGERER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
On July 1, when considering the election subversion claims against former president Donald Trump, the Supreme Court confirmed what every American should know deep in their bones. As Chief Justice John Roberts put it in the majority decision: "The President, charged with enforcing federal criminal laws, is not above them."
More than six months after special counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court for expedited review, and more than two months after oral argument, the Supreme Court held on Monday what every reasonable American already understood: Presidents do not get blanket immunity for crimes committed in office. However, the right-wing majority put its thumb heavily on the scale, thereby chopping off part of the indictment (i.e. consultation with the Justice Department) and setting the stage for a complex evaluation by the lower court as to the remainder of the conduct (e.g. conversation...
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