Justice Sotomayor’s dissent in the Trump Immunity case isd “for the ages”: JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE KAGAN and JUSTICE JACKSON join, dissenting. Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.Relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom about the need for “bold and unhesitating action” by the President, ante, at 3, 13, the Court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more. Because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent.
Under this, President Biden could arrest Trump, every Republican traitor in Congress, the authors of Project 2025, and the bunch of the traitors. I wish he would!
Right there with you Tom. Biden has a small window of opportunity to use this newly bestowed immunity to protect the nation from destruction. He should gather his best legal advisers and plan his attack quickly.
whenever I see somebody talk about resisting with force, my very first impulse is to shout "Right On" until I try to imagine what that would look like. force against whom? SCOTUS? wouldn't that look like 1/6, except for it being across the street and with many fewer guns?
that's what FORCE means. to me, at any rate.
if you mean, aggressive use of this new presidential immunity? I'd say yeah, but now is hardly the time, with everybody questioning Biden's mental competence etc. and I can't think of any Dems who'd recommend that sort of thing in ANY case, which is one of the reasons I'm a Democrat.
President Biden's campaign just sent out a statement from him that he is running, that he is not quitting. I signed up with Act Blue to give a monthly amount ($7). Show him you're on his side and respond to this email announcement when you get it.
It is past time to impeach the last 3 supremes, Thomas and Alito. Since I watched the hearings for the last three, I now am sure that they all three lied. Thomas and Alito should’ve been never appointed.
No need for a time-consuming impeachment process that the House majority R'souls will shoot down anyway, now that pres. Biden has the immunity for an official perfect phone call with AG Garland. Then some SC justiciars can be indicted for malfeasance, corruption, and tax evasion (by Friday, or Garland can collect his personal belongings at the DOJ front desk next Monday).
Thank you, Tom for presenting this entire dissent to us, This dissent reinforces my concern for the way we select and appoint judges in our system. All the "majority" judges were submitted to 4 formerly Republican Presidents by he Federalist Society, which to the best of my knowledge is a fascist organization that was never elected by American voters.
In my not-so-humble opinion this is the wrong way to select judges or justices. I think a list of honest, experienced, judges should be sent to the current President with NO political party identification, by the American Bar Association. To the best of my knowledge the ABA is committed to uphold both the Constitution of the United States and the written and practices Law. The list should comprise at least 5 qualified names.
These potential candidates may then be interviewed and assessed by the Presidential staff and one selected from that group presented to the Senate.
I cannot conceive of a Aileen Cannon. Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, Brett Kavanaugh or Amy Barrett even being considered under those rules.
I am so sorry for Associate Justices Brown, Kagan, and Sotomayor having to serve with the above mentioned totally unqualified associate Justices or having the other anti Constitutional loose Cannon seated on a Circuit Court bench
Of course, the Federalist Society is a function of the corporatist drive to subvert politics to the desires of CEOs following the Powell Memorandum in the ‘70’s. However there is a more pernicious problem in the appointment of federal judges and especially on the Supreme Court. That problem is the “professionalization” of the justices. In ages past we selected justices not only from among former law clerks and law school professors, but also from run of the mill politicians and litigators, people who had a broad experience in life. For example, Earl Warren was just a Republican hack and former California Attorney General (where he colluded with the internment of Japanese Americans) and Governor. But when he was appointed Chief Justice, his ability to see beyond the law as an abstraction allowed him to realize how twisted with racism our laws had be one and he was able to create the Brown v. Board of Education decision, among many others, to right wrongs.
But now we select all of our judges solely from the ranks of law professors or professional judge staff, people who instinctively see law as an intellectual abstraction and really do not care or understand how decisions actually affect the public.
This Trump decision is actually not an example of professionalized judging because this particular majority actually do understand what they are up to, but feign to not understand the results of their decision. In a perverse way, they are taking cover in the professionalization of judging so they can pretend that they don’t see what all the fuss is about.
An interesting concept. I'm not sure about the 'professionalism of the six injustices' It seems to me they are more invested in Project 2025 than trump
I didn't realize that conducting a coup (and all that entailed) was listed in the US Constitution as an official duty of the president! I have an image in my head of the 6 black-robed "justices" contorted into pretzels spelling out the word coup!!!
This was not unexpected. The lack of any accountability in denying reduced or barred immunity for criminal acts in office shows that this ruling is a political decision, one that surely will be rejected by future Courts (if there are any). I should note that Justice Roberts' opinion rather smugly dismissed this dissent as hypothetical and excessive:
"As for the dissents, they strike a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the Court actually does today—conclude that immunity extends to official discussions between the President and his Attorney General, and then remand to the lower courts to determine “in the
first instance” whether and to what extent Trump’s remaining alleged conduct is entitled to immunity. Supra, at 24, 28, 30." You can read the whole ruling - I did, but I have booze in the house.....
In my various postings on scale modeling, I follow Fred Henderson's advice from the old model column in Flying Review International and recommend elderberry wine.....
I read it all with horror and disgust. This paragraph jumped out at me near the end of the dissent: “Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today …. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”
There MUST be pushback on the far right justices of this Supreme Court. The scrutiny of their actions on and off the bench must be invasive, as has been their interference in our daily lives. Leave no stone unturned, follow all of the money, what they have done to American Democracy must be paid back multi fold.
Well, TC. I started immediately writing this after “They f*cking did it” post and then you added second post which allowed read of Justice Sotomayer’s opinion. I’m not thinking about what Judge Chutkan will do. I’m now fervently thinking of what Judge Merchan is thinking in this moment regarding sentencing the ALREADY CONVICTED FELON on 34 counts. For crimes committed when he wasn’t president. When he desperately tried to break that glass that his nose has been pressed against all his life by lying, cheating, bribing, and acting like a weasel in a henhouse.
I’m visualizing the book, kitchen sink, and big middle finger being thrown at him with maximum punishment for his 34 felonies.
And the documents case? F*ck Judge Cannon. Who doesn’t think he sold that shit to the highest bidder. When he wasn’t president any more.
Put his ass in prison, Judge Merchan.
And postscript TC. I 1000% agree with you on blasting every naysayer, troll, cowardly, lowlife, whining, lower case vichy dem outta here. Gloves been off for awhile.
How Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson persevere in the face of such bald corruption on the Court is a testament to their patriotism. And now what happens if President Biden refuses to step down if he's not reelected? Methinks the Extreme Court would find a way to burn him at the stake.
Thank you, Tom. The historic dissent was 8,000 words too long to post as a supplementary comment on my Facebook post about this horrendous decision. Sharing this Substack post did the trick.
A note: usually, they write, "I respectfully dissent." So there's a little extra from her there.
Of course if the president had been a Democrat, it would have been 9-0 against immunity, which is the only plausible constitutional position.
But now Joe Biden has the right to jail his opponents as domestic insurrectionists, and he needs to do so.
No, not really, the SC retained the option of deciding on what is “official.”
When is it time for us to resist with force? Play nice hasn’t been working.
Under this, President Biden could arrest Trump, every Republican traitor in Congress, the authors of Project 2025, and the bunch of the traitors. I wish he would!
TC I'm leaning towards your last sentence.
Weakness is going to kill us all.
Looks like testosterone is going to get there first.
Then our democracy would become a schoolyard tit for tat, with disastrous results.
You're right. Which shows the idiocy of this decision.
The Sc would find a way to disagree with themselves
Making quite a few leaps into the unknown, are we not?
Right there with you Tom. Biden has a small window of opportunity to use this newly bestowed immunity to protect the nation from destruction. He should gather his best legal advisers and plan his attack quickly.
whenever I see somebody talk about resisting with force, my very first impulse is to shout "Right On" until I try to imagine what that would look like. force against whom? SCOTUS? wouldn't that look like 1/6, except for it being across the street and with many fewer guns?
that's what FORCE means. to me, at any rate.
if you mean, aggressive use of this new presidential immunity? I'd say yeah, but now is hardly the time, with everybody questioning Biden's mental competence etc. and I can't think of any Dems who'd recommend that sort of thing in ANY case, which is one of the reasons I'm a Democrat.
President Biden's campaign just sent out a statement from him that he is running, that he is not quitting. I signed up with Act Blue to give a monthly amount ($7). Show him you're on his side and respond to this email announcement when you get it.
It is past time to impeach the last 3 supremes, Thomas and Alito. Since I watched the hearings for the last three, I now am sure that they all three lied. Thomas and Alito should’ve been never appointed.
No need for a time-consuming impeachment process that the House majority R'souls will shoot down anyway, now that pres. Biden has the immunity for an official perfect phone call with AG Garland. Then some SC justiciars can be indicted for malfeasance, corruption, and tax evasion (by Friday, or Garland can collect his personal belongings at the DOJ front desk next Monday).
Sotomayor ripped it but good!
Brava! No "respectfully"
dissent either.
Gloves off!
Thank you, Tom for presenting this entire dissent to us, This dissent reinforces my concern for the way we select and appoint judges in our system. All the "majority" judges were submitted to 4 formerly Republican Presidents by he Federalist Society, which to the best of my knowledge is a fascist organization that was never elected by American voters.
In my not-so-humble opinion this is the wrong way to select judges or justices. I think a list of honest, experienced, judges should be sent to the current President with NO political party identification, by the American Bar Association. To the best of my knowledge the ABA is committed to uphold both the Constitution of the United States and the written and practices Law. The list should comprise at least 5 qualified names.
These potential candidates may then be interviewed and assessed by the Presidential staff and one selected from that group presented to the Senate.
I cannot conceive of a Aileen Cannon. Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, Brett Kavanaugh or Amy Barrett even being considered under those rules.
I am so sorry for Associate Justices Brown, Kagan, and Sotomayor having to serve with the above mentioned totally unqualified associate Justices or having the other anti Constitutional loose Cannon seated on a Circuit Court bench
Of course, the Federalist Society is a function of the corporatist drive to subvert politics to the desires of CEOs following the Powell Memorandum in the ‘70’s. However there is a more pernicious problem in the appointment of federal judges and especially on the Supreme Court. That problem is the “professionalization” of the justices. In ages past we selected justices not only from among former law clerks and law school professors, but also from run of the mill politicians and litigators, people who had a broad experience in life. For example, Earl Warren was just a Republican hack and former California Attorney General (where he colluded with the internment of Japanese Americans) and Governor. But when he was appointed Chief Justice, his ability to see beyond the law as an abstraction allowed him to realize how twisted with racism our laws had be one and he was able to create the Brown v. Board of Education decision, among many others, to right wrongs.
But now we select all of our judges solely from the ranks of law professors or professional judge staff, people who instinctively see law as an intellectual abstraction and really do not care or understand how decisions actually affect the public.
This Trump decision is actually not an example of professionalized judging because this particular majority actually do understand what they are up to, but feign to not understand the results of their decision. In a perverse way, they are taking cover in the professionalization of judging so they can pretend that they don’t see what all the fuss is about.
An interesting concept. I'm not sure about the 'professionalism of the six injustices' It seems to me they are more invested in Project 2025 than trump
Chump is a placeholder, and too stupid to know it.
I didn't realize that conducting a coup (and all that entailed) was listed in the US Constitution as an official duty of the president! I have an image in my head of the 6 black-robed "justices" contorted into pretzels spelling out the word coup!!!
The J6 justices.
Therefore, Trump cannot be president again.
This was not unexpected. The lack of any accountability in denying reduced or barred immunity for criminal acts in office shows that this ruling is a political decision, one that surely will be rejected by future Courts (if there are any). I should note that Justice Roberts' opinion rather smugly dismissed this dissent as hypothetical and excessive:
"As for the dissents, they strike a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the Court actually does today—conclude that immunity extends to official discussions between the President and his Attorney General, and then remand to the lower courts to determine “in the
first instance” whether and to what extent Trump’s remaining alleged conduct is entitled to immunity. Supra, at 24, 28, 30." You can read the whole ruling - I did, but I have booze in the house.....
Roberts confirms himself as the worst Chief Justice since Taney.
Maybe he thinks it's a race.....
But is it enough booze, Bruce. You'd better check.
In my various postings on scale modeling, I follow Fred Henderson's advice from the old model column in Flying Review International and recommend elderberry wine.....
I read it all with horror and disgust. This paragraph jumped out at me near the end of the dissent: “Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today …. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”
Chump has no hesitation about being bold in the worst possible way. If he has the opportunity, he will cave to Putin in a nanosecond
Living in interesting times sucks…
And yet we have no choice in the matter, other than to deal with it.
There MUST be pushback on the far right justices of this Supreme Court. The scrutiny of their actions on and off the bench must be invasive, as has been their interference in our daily lives. Leave no stone unturned, follow all of the money, what they have done to American Democracy must be paid back multi fold.
Well, TC. I started immediately writing this after “They f*cking did it” post and then you added second post which allowed read of Justice Sotomayer’s opinion. I’m not thinking about what Judge Chutkan will do. I’m now fervently thinking of what Judge Merchan is thinking in this moment regarding sentencing the ALREADY CONVICTED FELON on 34 counts. For crimes committed when he wasn’t president. When he desperately tried to break that glass that his nose has been pressed against all his life by lying, cheating, bribing, and acting like a weasel in a henhouse.
I’m visualizing the book, kitchen sink, and big middle finger being thrown at him with maximum punishment for his 34 felonies.
And the documents case? F*ck Judge Cannon. Who doesn’t think he sold that shit to the highest bidder. When he wasn’t president any more.
Put his ass in prison, Judge Merchan.
And postscript TC. I 1000% agree with you on blasting every naysayer, troll, cowardly, lowlife, whining, lower case vichy dem outta here. Gloves been off for awhile.
Salud, TC.
🗽💜
Totally on board with you, Christine.
Oh, I can hear the whining now. While I laugh my arse off when they put on the cuffs, nice fantasy.
It's time for POTUS to call on Seal Team Six and order them to set things straight. NOW!
Thank you for sharing the whole document, Tom. Our response must be fierce and non stop through the election.
How Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson persevere in the face of such bald corruption on the Court is a testament to their patriotism. And now what happens if President Biden refuses to step down if he's not reelected? Methinks the Extreme Court would find a way to burn him at the stake.
Oh, they would, no doubt whatsoever
Thank you, Tom. The historic dissent was 8,000 words too long to post as a supplementary comment on my Facebook post about this horrendous decision. Sharing this Substack post did the trick.
They're burning it all down. I'm fixing a strong drink.