Posted on 09/15/2024 11:29:43 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Last February, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. sent his eight Supreme Court colleagues a confidential memo that radiated frustration and certainty.
Former President Donald J. Trump, seeking to retake the White House, had made a bold, last-ditch appeal to the justices. He wanted them to block his fast-approaching criminal trial on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that he was protected by presidential immunity. Whatever move the court made could have lasting consequences for the next election, the scope of presidential power and the court’s own battered reputation.
The chief justice’s Feb. 22 memo, jump-starting the justices’ formal discussion on whether to hear the case, offered a scathing critique of a lower-court decision and a startling preview of how the high court would later rule, according to several people from the court who saw the document.
The chief justice tore into the appellate court opinion greenlighting Mr. Trump’s trial, calling it inadequate and poorly reasoned. On one key point, he complained, the lower court judges “failed to grapple with the most difficult questions altogether.” He wrote not only that the Supreme Court should take the case — which would stall the trial — but also how the justices should decide it.
“I think it likely that we will view the separation of powers analysis differently” from the appeals court, he wrote. In other words: grant Mr. Trump greater protection from prosecution.
In a momentous trio of Jan. 6-related cases last term, the court found itself more entangled in presidential politics than at any time since the 2000 election, even as it was contending with its own controversies related to that day. The chief justice responded by deploying his authority to steer rulings that benefited Mr. Trump, according to a New York Times examination that uncovered extensive...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
"Show me the man and I will show you the crime" is their motto.
Roberts is our institutional stalwart, and, the best defense against Democrat party tyranny.
Roberts is a linguini spine wuss.
This could be interesting.
Can responses 2 and 3 both be correct?
Is John Roberts our guy, as conservatives?
Did he steer the court towards making a good decision in this case, even though many on Free Republic have been critical of his rulings in other cases?
The Leftist leakers (Sotomayor and company is my guess) are at it again, hoping to set Roberts and the Court up to get hammered if Harris wins. The Court of Appeals opinion at issue was badly reasoned and came on the heels of an unusually shallow and biased DC District Court ruling. The combination was so bad as to virtually require Supreme Court intervention.
Roberts. What a disappointment! I much rather Thomas was the chief judge!
The Democrats have been trying to dominate the Supreme Court and Roberts basically told them "no".
In response, they want to pack the court so they can get their way with the court.
The result would have been an endless series of tit for tat prosecutions of every president - and thus the neutering of the presidency.
Personally I think they should have held that the correct procedure for any official illegality by the president is impeachment by the House and trial by the Senate and that only upon his conviction by the Senate can a president be charged criminally. Impeachment by the House and trial by the Senate is actually provided for in the Constitution.
But of course the NY Times isn't remotely interested in that. Their mantra is "get Trump at all costs.....damn with the consequences".
Jodi and Adam got it all figured out.
Oh, right. John Roberts is in the tank for Trump.
Give me a break.
What absolute nonsense. The ruling on immunity was actually very minimalist in its approach. It made no declaration on Trump’s actions one way or the other. It did, however, correct the lower court’s flawed ruling that basically said the President is protected from unjust prosecution because he is being prosecuted.
Actually, I think that it was some guys like Franklin, Madison, Hamilton and others that shaped Trump’s SCOTUS winning streak.
I always got a sense that Roberts does not like Trump much. But he might view the actions of the Democrats to be harmful to the Executive branch long into the future.
And who is leaking such confidential memos?
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