Something’s Rotten About the Justices Taking So Long on Trump’s Immunity Case

silence7@slrpnk.net to politics @lemmy.world – 605 points –
Opinion | Something’s Rotten About the Justices Taking So Long on Trump’s Immunity Case
nytimes.com
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As an organization, they are actively and intentionally interfering with electoral politics. Their lifetime appointments were designed to remove them from that dynamic, but they have decided to bypass that principle. The structure of our federal government is designed to deal with problems like this by having the other branches check them when they step out of line like this. Unfortunately, neither of the other branches have shown any desire to take action. As a result we are currently caught in a self-reinforcing death spiral of anti-democratic corruption that will eventually undo the union unless something changes. What a time to be alive.

I think we are supposed to be that something that changes it.

Peaceful protesting only works for so long.

That's where the second amendment actually does come in for once

If you don't have enough people to win the war by picking up pens and voting, you definitely don't have enough to win by picking up guns and shooting.

Depends. You might not even need to shoot. Those anti mask fuckers got what they wanted by protesting while armed to the teeth.

If they lose by less than the margin of Covid deaths that's going to be hilarious. Until they realize that it was a conspiracy all along and they were tricked into not masking.

Do you want a civil war?

No. You're going to have to walk me through the thought process that led you to ask that. My whole point is if you can't win through voting, don't try to start a war because you aren't going to win that either.

Sorry that was half a thought. The country is divided 50/50, both sides see themselves as good and the other evil. Anyone starts shooting and you got a civil war.

Not 50/50. The MAGAts are severely overrepresented in the government.

Republicans have already started shooting. Just look at the rise in hate crimes over the last 8 years.

The country is divided 50/50, both sides see themselves as good and the other evil

Well one side views it that way. The other side sees themselves as intelligent, compassionate and informed while they see the other side as confused, angry, misinformed and violent.

It’s the literal reason for the 2nd amendment, there is no arguing that fact.

where is Tetsuya Yamagami when you need him?

I just finished Lost Judgment, he's probably out prosecuting his own client for a different crime at his own defence appeal as we speak. Oh, I thought you said Takuya Yagami.

Have you tried voting for the party that wants to remove corruption and expand the packed court?

Not with First Past The Post voting still a huge factor in how things play out. I do vote local, however.

But violence solves lots of problems.

???

FPTP reduces your options to 2 (sometimes 3) and one of the options literally holds the stances you express worry about.

FPTP prevents 3rd party candidates from being viable. Until we get an Alternative Vote, there's little that can be done to get third parties successfully winning elections.

and? Just vote for the candidate who best represents you. Bonus points if they want election reform.

Why bother limiting it to candidates? I could just write down the person who best represents me.

If they've got a 0% chance of winning then you're throwing your vote away and paving the way for the worst candidate. As I mentioned, FPTP reduces the number of viable candidates, but you still have a choice.

Everyone other than the top two have a 0% chance of winning. I could write down a fictional character and they would still get the same number of EC votes as a third party on the ballot.

Batter up, tough guy.

Not sure if you're a conservative or just lazy.

Neither, just think keyboard warriors calling for violence is lame and also, they're full of shit.

Throughout all of human history, the only treatment for a plague of conservatism has been direct violence. Pacifism has never cured conservatism.

It's unfortunate that the normal people must walk on egg-shells when discussing the cure for a disease while the diseaae itself publicly calls for extermination of the normal people. If the normal people are to survive this, we must prepare and train together. That means discussing this issue and how to solve it. Unfortunately, there has never been a peaceful solution to this problem. Violence has always been required.

If you have an alternative treatment for this disease, please feel free to share it. Otherwise, why insult those of us who are willing and able to address this problem?

Violence requires a very high bar that has not been met. Not yet anyway, and those who have gone through it would tell you it's wise not to be so flippant. And that bar hasn't been met for you either obviously, regardless of the key clacking, but cool user name.

Slaughtering neighbors may not yet be appropriate, but the appropriate time to discuss our defenses, train and prep is right now. Avoiding or discouraging the discussion is counterproductive and only assists those who are champing at the bit to slaughter us first.

Why should conservatives be permitted to openly discuss oppressing and killing the normal people yet the normal people be disallowed from discussing our defense?

The executive branch (Biden) would have expanded the courts. Manchin and Simena refused to cast the needed votes to make it work. It's up to us to elect more Democrats so we don't have to rely on our worst ones to do the right thing.

Look at what a mess the House has been when the Republicans have had a handful of votes to spare. Dems have no spare votes, and they've still managed to get a lot done. Put a few more Democrats in the Senate, and then we don't have to cater to the quasi-conservative senators in the party.

All Biden has to do is appoint 300 more judges. Maybe 1,000. Let's see the GOP stuff that court.

While I agree with the sentiment, this isn't correct. They aren't actively interfering. They are refusing to interfer when it's thier job. And the structure was designed to remove them from undue influence of the other branches... not from politics in general, or from outside influence. Fact is, noone is truely impartial, and outside influences are pretty much impossible to remove. So the whole idea of a court that is above that is just ludicrous.

How can we word this so tRump gets his way but also so Biden doesn't get immunity and when will I get another luxury vacation or motorhome?

Clarence Thomas probably.

Uncle Tom

Obligatory: Uncle Tom was actually a good guy. The idea that he was some kind of traitor or such comes from a crappy adaptation of the book. In the actual book he dies to save some other slaves.

Oh no it's just straight delaying his trial until after the election. They have no problem writing a 100 percent ironclad opinion on presidential immunity and then denying that immunity to Biden for reasons pulled out of a fever dream.

I don't know why anyone is surprised. All of the court watchers who aren't MAGA told us SCOTUS would sit on this as long as they possibly could. Which, assuming they're still coloring inside the rules, means the last ruling of the season. And they'll drag out all the other cases too so it doesn't look weird. In fact on Strict Scrutiny they've been warning that the court is dropping a bunch of no contest decisions because they're expecting one big drop with shitty partisan decisions that have no logic beyond the personal politics of the majority.

That the charges weren't made until late last year is also a failure, the whole process has been unreasonable long.

That was part of the game though. If any part of that process was sped up for him the Republicans would have ammo in their accusations about the trial. And rich people have long made sure the justice system goes slowly.

I mean the reasons exist but if the system cannot rapidly respond to attempts to destroy it then those attempts will succeed.

Part of "the game" is to make sure that the trial would start far too late for it to end before the elections... To make sure that Trump can get elected before the ruling is over... And then give himself immunity?

Yes, but it's important to remember that there are multiple players in this game. The Democrats and the prosecutors want the trial done before then but they can't be seen to be speeding it up or even to be impatient. This gives the defense and the Republicans plenty of opening to show the trial down.

This was entirely predictable. There was no reason for the Democrats to wait so long to start the process. They wanted to make sure Trump could run for the Republicans so they can keep fearmongering everyone into voting for Biden.

They did start the process very early though. The problem is there's a whole thing before bringing charges that they had to go through. They aren't skipping any step because that could be grounds for an appeal. Even before officially opening an investigation they had to make sure they had the grounds to do that. So there was an investigation before the investigation, likely trying to get something less ephemeral than speech=riot; like direct ties to fake electors. Then they can start the official investigation where they get people on the record in meetings with the FBI. Finally when that's gone far enough they can get a grand jury to look at everything. Then finally they can charge Trump and start preparing for a trial.

In both of the investigative phases anyone partial to Trump can slow them down by rescheduling repeatedly and lying to investigators. (Which has already resulted in charges for some of them because it's much easier to prove.) Then the grand jury doesn't usually meet every day, in fact they may only meet once a week.

Taking two years to figure out there was a connection, and another year to gather enough evidence for a grand jury isn't unusual. Especially in cases involving rich and influential people.

Look at the lib escalate into a spiraling web of complexity in order to justify failure. No, the timeline here was unreasonable and will allow trump to win again. The Dems have served up a silver platter to the wealthy.

I agree that it's unreasonable. But it's how the system works with rich people. Meaning this isn't abnormal.

Merrick Garland is a conservative. He did exactly what the world knew he would do when the neoliberal president appointed him.

MAGA SCOTUS justices in this case, MAGA judge in the classified docs case, MAGA prosecutor in the Georgia case ... good thing we hit him with four cases at the same time.

Fucking seriously. How stupid are we that people would see exactly what you laid out and just say "hmmm, oh well the justice system is just slow or something." Except its only with his cases that are in front of Republican appointed "judges."

In the case of the supreme court it is painfully obvious. It's because Thomas likes to live like a billionaire and Alito hates gays.

Lula's Brazil had Bolsonaro handled within six months. Banned him from running until 2030 over his January 8th coup attempt in 2023.

The failure to respond in 2021 doomed us all.

The system doesn't want to save it's self, we are on a clear path towards fascism.

Yeah. I expected nothing would happen until it was too late. I'm still disappointed, but I expected it.

These trials could have started far sooner. But they were intentionally delayed by Democrats.

The Democrats purposely did not prosecute Trump in time because they do not want anyone else than Trump to be running.

Imagine if they couldn't "But Trump" right now.

The Dems did fuck up, just not exactly as you describe. The Dems elected a neoliberal who appointed a conservative Attorney General. He did exactly what you'd expect a conservative AG to do and paved the way for Trump to return to power.

You give the Dems too much credit. It's easier to believe they're weak and ineffectual.

By design. The duopoly of American politics is firmly controlled by the rich, they stir up drama to get the public's approval for their side hustles.

Huh no of course not. They literally propped up Trump in 2016

So to take Bush down, Clinton’s team drew up a plan to pump Trump up. Shortly after her kickoff, top aides organized a strategy call, whose agenda included a memo to the Democratic National Committee: “This memo is intended to outline the strategy and goals a potential Hillary Clinton presidential campaign would have regarding the 2016 Republican presidential field,” it read.

“The variety of candidates is a positive here, and many of the lesser known can serve as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right. In this scenario, we don’t want to marginalize the more extreme candidates, but make them more ‘Pied Piper’ candidates who actually represent the mainstream of the Republican Party,” read the memo.

“Pied Piper candidates include, but aren’t limited to: • Ted Cruz • Donald Trump • Ben Carson We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to [take] them seriously."

This is most probably what's really happening. The same way Democrats try to get right wing extremists in Republican primaries to win because they see them as easier to win against.

Subpoena them one by one and confront them about specific issues. For instance Thomas and all those billionaire friends who keep dropping money in his lap. Congress committees have the power to do this.

Let sunlight into the dirty little acts of corruption and impeach. Hit them instead of just complaining all the damn time. Also, six or seven year term limits. Then every single president will get a chance to appoint a couple and the bench makeup will be more balanced.

Congressional subpoenas mean absolutely nothing after Trump's term though. They'll just ignore then and what, you expect Merrick Garland to arrest a Supreme Court Justice for contempt of Congress? If it even gets that far.

Not so, I believe that Steve Bannon is going to the lockup for ignoring his in a week or so. I don't fancy that the supremes will want to risk that. It just takes will to apply the law. That's it.

Of course, the Dems will huff and puff and do nothing.

Of course, the Dems will huff and puff and do nothing

That's my point, Merrick Garland of all people, Mr I don't want to appear political so I'll slow walk trump, isnt going to arrest a Supreme Court Justice mere months before an election if he ever would in the first place.

I think that arresting a Supreme isn't going to happen. For a start the legal machinations and appeals will take at least two years. But, a subpoena is at least fighting back, and a threat. What is the alternative? Hand wringing?

The Conservatives wake up each and every day actively trying to destroy the American republic. Do you think that overturning Roe was just luck? That was a 25 year process. I'm not advocating violence, but just not taking it when your balls get stomped. There are shocking things that can be done. Boosting the bench to overcome the current bias, bringing in terms limits, and subpoenas for corruption. The subpoena won't necessarily lead to impeachment or arrest, but it will bring out every little dirty detail in public. Do you think that's not a threat to a dirty bench?

People need to go listen to the confirmation hearings of the older judges where they said they considered Roe v Wade settled law that would take quite a lot to over turn. And then read the opinion that places medieval catholic church law above our Constitution. It should be required. With highlights and margin notes in comic sans red marker because apparently that's fun and attention grabbing.

Steve Bannon isn't an Important Person™ tho.

Never said he was. The constitution doesn't have categories of importance.

If the constitution isn't equally enforced, it might not have categories of importance written in, but it's functionally no different.

The whole idea of the three different branches of government was supposed to be that each would keep the others in check. Once the Senate refused to convict Trump for contempt of Congress, I could see the writing on the wall. The houses are no longer co-equal, and one party likes it that way because it means they get to do shit like take away abortion from those godless libtards.

By which time they will have decided Trump v. Biden 2024 in a repeat of 2000. Or at least that's what my depression brain is telling me. Logical me says it will definitely take years but they'll end up impeached or having their seat stolen out form under them around about 2026. At which point they'll claim they're retiring and Sinclair news will blast every local news station with stories about how concerning it is to see politicians running judges out of office. But we'll get through it.

If Gym Jordan doesn't have to comply with a congressional subpoena, what makes you think Clarence Thomas will?

I'm not sure of the person you refer to (sorry, not American) but surely that's the problem. Not applying the law equally. Can a common murderer or thief decide that a legal direction doesn't apply to them?

Jim Jordan (Gym is a nickname from years ago when he allowed students to get molested by a school doctor) is a representative from the state of Ohio who was involved with the January 6th plot to overthrow the government.
When they investigated it, they subpoenaed him and he refused to show up. So far it's been 3 years and no action has been taken whatsoever.
He helped plot a coup, he's STILL in power, and he ignored a subpoena from Congress with no consequences whatsoever.
He ranks considerably lower than the Supreme Court does in the grand scheme of things and if they're not going to force him to comply, they won't force any of the federal justices to comply.

Thank you for your detailed explanation.

The problem appears to be a lack of enforcement of already established law. Well, if you were permitted to ignore the law why the hell wouldn't you? That is my entire thesis. Stop allowing "important" public figures flout the law.

The real issue is it's too easy for Republicans to paint it as weaponizing of official powers against political rivals who are absolutely innocent. The fear from Democrats is that holding him accountable would damage their public image badly enough to lose them seats in the House/Senate, thus giving the Republicans more power. Imagine a Trump Presidency with both the House and Congress controlled by MAGA Republicans.

If you want to know how Republican voters could see it that way, just watch Faux News for a few days. I work for an ISP that delivers TV services, and it's scary how many old people have Fox turned on 24/7.

Project 2024 scares the shit out of me. I've applied for passports for me and my two daughters, if Trump wins the next election I'm getting the fuck off this carnival ride.

I think that it's Project 2025, but everything else you described is spot on.

if Trump wins the next election I'm getting the fuck off this carnival ride.

Where will you go that will allow you to stay?

Instead of "rotten", the title should use "completely predictable".

Cause the coup has not ended yet.

It won't end until they succeed. This isn't stopping with trump they will continue until they have permanent control. They can see the writing on the wall and that the numbers don't look good for their future in government so they need to solidify that control.

The “hand is not hidden”. It’s out in public with a raised middle finger to democracy and our way of life.

Please USA, don't go full Nazi. That would be quite inconvenient for your neighbors, and the world probably.

Why should we be surprised? As a nation, we've shown the justices that there are no consequences. It seems they are not beholden to anybody.

It’s intentional specifically to buy the orange turd as much time as they possibly can, maybe delay the trial until after the election.

Which is incredibly stupid.

This is the best summary I could come up with:


For those looking for the hidden hand of politics in what the Supreme Court does, there’s plenty of reason for suspicion on Donald Trump’s as-yet-undecided immunity case given its urgency.

But it’s considerably more drawn out than the schedule the court established earlier this year on a challenge from Colorado after that state took Mr. Trump off its presidential primary ballot.

The court is a busy place, though the justices are completing decisions at the second slowest rate since the 1946 term, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal.

And yet Mr. Trump’s lawyers continued to take the untenable position, in response to questioning, that a president who orders the assassination of a political rival could not face criminal charges (absent impeachment by the House and conviction in the Senate).

In 1974, the Watergate special prosecutor squared off against President Richard Nixon over his refusal to release Oval Office tape recordings of his conversations with aides.

Even if presidents enjoy some immunity for official acts, plotting to remain in office while continuing to question the results of an election they clearly lost isn’t one of them.


The original article contains 1,151 words, the summary contains 189 words. Saved 84%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Entirely possible trump is lowballing the bribe.

Well, some judges have standards. Clarence has gotten used to a certain level by now. Anything below the stuff he's been given over the years ain't gonna cut it.

Wow, I wonder what it could be? It couldn’t possibly be that fucking everything anyone who’s been paying attention to the judicial system has been saying in the last 8 years for the past 8 years is all true, could it…?

For real though I’m getting real fuckin sick of being proven right on this whole realm of issues.

They're waiting until they know the outcome of the election. If drumpf wins, then they'll greenlight presidential immunity... immediately after Biden vacates office. For the love of god, vote for the sane choice.

Yeah its their putrid brains chock full of far right fecal treacle

it is in USA DNA: drama! trump is like a stupider britney...just without the skills or skin...and it will all cumulate to sth. bizarre. may convict trump will shave his head or drive down square garden DWI...we dont know yet but it will be bizarre.

Isn't this a common thing that before summer break they collect cases and defer judgements and dump it all on the day they leave for summer break?