<story><title>Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for official acts</title><url>https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-capitol-riot-immunity-2dc0d1c2368d404adc0054151490f542</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>paulddraper</author><text>&amp;gt; This ruling seems to open the door to a president being immune from, say, commanding SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival.&lt;p&gt;Immune from judicial prosecution.&lt;p&gt;Not immune from Congressional prosecution.&lt;p&gt;---&lt;p&gt;This isn&amp;#x27;t a unique concept.&lt;p&gt;For example, if SEAL Team 6 improperly kills someone on a mission, they aren&amp;#x27;t prosecuted in criminal court; they are court-martialed.&lt;p&gt;There is accountability, but due to the unique nature of the profession, it has a specialized venue.</text></item><item><author>adriand</author><text>This ruling seems to open the door to a president being immune from, say, commanding SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival.&lt;p&gt;“In its ruling, the Supreme Court decided there was no question that Mr. Trump enjoyed immunity from being prosecuted for one of those methods: his efforts to strong-arm the Justice Department into validating his false claims that the election had been marred by widespread fraud. That was because the justices determined that Mr. Trump’s interactions with top officials in the department were clearly part of his official duties as president.” [1]&lt;p&gt;One of the president’s official duties is to direct the military to take actions that protect the country. Biden can reasonably claim Trump is a threat to democracy, and can officially request him to be killed. Right? If not why not?&lt;p&gt;1: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;2024&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;us&amp;#x2F;politics&amp;#x2F;supreme-court-immunity-trump-jan-6.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;2024&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;us&amp;#x2F;politics&amp;#x2F;supreme-court...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>kemotep</author><text>My limited understanding of the ruling:&lt;p&gt;The ruling states that the President is immune from prosecution while exercising official duties of the office of President but can be investigated by a special counsel that is appointed by an act of Congress, and if successfully impeached and convicted can then be charged with said crimes. “Unofficial” acts are not protected by this immunity but a special counsel is still required to be appointed by an act of Congress to investigate and then bring forward charges.&lt;p&gt;Out of context this is quite reasonable and level headed. In context of the hyper partisan landscape US politics are today, doesn’t seem likely without a supermajority opposition to be able to bring charges against a president, for official or unofficial acts that are crimes.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>geekraver</author><text>Which they can avoid by resigning. So the worst penalty for almost any crime is they might have to step down,</text></comment>
<story><title>Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for official acts</title><url>https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-capitol-riot-immunity-2dc0d1c2368d404adc0054151490f542</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>paulddraper</author><text>&amp;gt; This ruling seems to open the door to a president being immune from, say, commanding SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival.&lt;p&gt;Immune from judicial prosecution.&lt;p&gt;Not immune from Congressional prosecution.&lt;p&gt;---&lt;p&gt;This isn&amp;#x27;t a unique concept.&lt;p&gt;For example, if SEAL Team 6 improperly kills someone on a mission, they aren&amp;#x27;t prosecuted in criminal court; they are court-martialed.&lt;p&gt;There is accountability, but due to the unique nature of the profession, it has a specialized venue.</text></item><item><author>adriand</author><text>This ruling seems to open the door to a president being immune from, say, commanding SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival.&lt;p&gt;“In its ruling, the Supreme Court decided there was no question that Mr. Trump enjoyed immunity from being prosecuted for one of those methods: his efforts to strong-arm the Justice Department into validating his false claims that the election had been marred by widespread fraud. That was because the justices determined that Mr. Trump’s interactions with top officials in the department were clearly part of his official duties as president.” [1]&lt;p&gt;One of the president’s official duties is to direct the military to take actions that protect the country. Biden can reasonably claim Trump is a threat to democracy, and can officially request him to be killed. Right? If not why not?&lt;p&gt;1: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;2024&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;us&amp;#x2F;politics&amp;#x2F;supreme-court-immunity-trump-jan-6.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;2024&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;01&amp;#x2F;us&amp;#x2F;politics&amp;#x2F;supreme-court...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>kemotep</author><text>My limited understanding of the ruling:&lt;p&gt;The ruling states that the President is immune from prosecution while exercising official duties of the office of President but can be investigated by a special counsel that is appointed by an act of Congress, and if successfully impeached and convicted can then be charged with said crimes. “Unofficial” acts are not protected by this immunity but a special counsel is still required to be appointed by an act of Congress to investigate and then bring forward charges.&lt;p&gt;Out of context this is quite reasonable and level headed. In context of the hyper partisan landscape US politics are today, doesn’t seem likely without a supermajority opposition to be able to bring charges against a president, for official or unofficial acts that are crimes.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kaba0</author><text>And they can be pardoned by the president after the fact.</text></comment>