Friday, July 5, 2024

"Trump vs US" Supreme Court Case on Executive Immunity. Maybe a helpful visual?

Helps me to put a picture of what I see as the result of the Executive Immunity case recently decided by the Supreme Court (case decision HERE).

Here is the succinct summary of what the Supreme Court held:

Below are a couple of images I created to give students (or others interested in the issue) a nominal starting point to understand the result. I make no claims it is a perfect representation.  I think, for the most part, the logic of what is "held" written above is shown in the two images below.

The first one describes Executive authority BEFORE the case cited above.  Presidential authority is defined in Article 2 of the Constitution. The "fuzzy perimeters" of that power have been molded by historical events but have been expansionary in history and dictated by events (civil war, WW 1 and 2, 9/11, to name a few).



The second image below represents what I think happens with Executive Authority going forward.  It HAS to happen, right?

Executive power increases (White area).  The fuzzy "outer perimeter" (Roberts words) of what is acceptable within the Executive branch increases (Brownish area) and the level of criminality that an Executive can be held responsible for decreases (Red area).

It is this brownish area I think Chief Justice Roberts addresses with "And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts.".  Not defined before in any Supreme Court case and the contours of it remain "fuzzy" BUT no question is an enlargement of Executive Branch permissible acts or actions.







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