Letters to the Editor: Presidential immunity would spell the end of our constitutional order
To the editor: The concerns expressed Thursday by the conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court about how the courts will be used to persecute former presidents if the latter aren’t granted some level of immunity are fundamentally wrong-headed.
The criminal prosecutions of Donald Trump have laid bare just how difficult it is to use the courts to go after former presidents, even in cases that would otherwise be considered open-and-shut.
Indeed, as oral arguments were getting underway at the Supreme Court, it was reported that Trump was an unindicted co-conspirator in the fake elector scheme in Arizona. The only reason he remains unindicted while those close to him face prison is the office he held when committing his alleged crimes.
The hypothetical scenarios the court seems willing to take seriously have no purchase in reality. What does is what happens to our constitutional system if the courts grant the president immunity.
The executive would no longer be a co-equal branch of government; it would be ascendant, with the other two branches no longer able to clip its wings. That is precisely the situation the founders worked so tirelessly to avoid.
Ethan Wells, Lexington, Mass.
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To the editor: Our young nation has arrived at a page in its history that will be remembered centuries on. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. holds the reins in his hands.
Will he opt to grant unfettered power to our commander in chief? Or will he require that all U.S. presidents adhere to the rule of law spelled out in our Constitution — a revered document that is the framework for the constitutions of other countries around the globe?
The world awaits his decision. May he choose well.
Erica Heyl, Winthrop Harbor, Ill.
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To the editor: This is “Twilight Zone” irony.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of United States — with all its trappings and pomp, in a building that has the words “Equal Justice Under Law” etched in stone above its main entrance — was actually debating whether or not a president of this country is subject to the same laws as everyone else.
Richard Nano, Seal Beach
