Judicial Review · Constitutional Law · Justice·July 1, 2024
Sotomayor and Jackson say the Supreme Court made the president a king above the law
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan issued dissents warning that the 6-3 immunity ruling removed criminal accountability for any president who commits crimes through official channels
Photo: Jahi Chikwendiu / The Washington Post via Getty Images file
The Court ruled 6-3 on July 1, 2024, with all three liberals dissenting
Sotomayor read her dissent aloud from the bench — reserved for decisions justices find most serious
Sotomayor dissent was 30 pages and used hypotheticals including presidential assassination orders and military coups
Roberts majority embedded a procedural bar: prosecutors cannot use evidence of official acts to prove intent even for unofficial-act crimes
Jackson wrote separately, agreeing with every word of Sotomayor dissent and adding her own structural argument
Nixon v. Fitzgerald 1982 gave presidents civil immunity for official acts; Trump v. United States extended that logic to criminal prosecution
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