Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Donald Trump

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Donald Trump on Monday, July 1, 2024, determining that a former president has substantial immunity for official acts committed while in office.

The 6-3 ruling — which was opposed by the court’s three liberal justices — sends the case back to federal court, where Trump has been charged with illegally conspiring to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Trump's legal defense team has argued he is immune from prosecution for any official acts he performed as president.

“The President is not above the law,” the majority ruled.

“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."

Justice Samuel Alito questioned the consequences of a system that allows former presidents to be criminally charged upon leaving office. 

"Now if an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election knows that a real possible nullity after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement, but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent," Alito asked. 

"Will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy? And we can look around the world and find countries where we have seen this process, where the loser gets thrown in jail," he said.