Sorry if this is not the proper community for this question. Please let me know if I should post this question elsewhere.
So like, I’m not trying to be hyperbolic or jump on some conspiracy theory crap, but this seems like very troubling news to me. My entire life, I’ve been under the impression that no one is technically/officially above the law in the US, especially the president. I thought that was a hard consensus among Americans regardless of party. Now, SCOTUS just made the POTUS immune to criminal liability.
The president can personally violate any law without legal consequences. They also already have the ability to pardon anyone else for federal violations. The POTUS can literally threaten anyone now. They can assassinate anyone. They can order anyone to assassinate anyone, then pardon them. It may even grant complete immunity from state laws because if anyone tries to hold the POTUS accountable, then they can be assassinated too. This is some Putin-level dictator stuff.
I feel like this is unbelievable and acknowledge that I may be wayyy off. Am I misunderstanding something?? Do I need to calm down?
Not really. The founders wanted a 3 pronged, balanced government with each branch checking the others’ power. Now the legislative essentially can’t do anything against the executive, and neither can the judicial unless SCOTUS changes its mind.
They specifically didn’t want another king
Correct but as the commander and chief there are military actions that need to be considered. An example i can think of is the droning of American citizens by the Obama administration. He’s not going to be charged with murder for that as it was an official act. At least that’s how i have thought about it.
Sure, but the difference was he could’ve been charged for murder if, let’s say, the person he ordered to be killed was a political opponent and not a clear threat to the nation. And Congress or judges would’ve had some power to make that call before, whereas they don’t really seem to have that power anymore.
Also, strictly speaking in terms of what the founders wanted - they did not want the president to have those kinds of powers. Most of these things were really brought in during FDR’s tenure during WWII where he took a lot of power for the executive branch. And it’s a trend that’s been continuing since.