cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17119069
“In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law,” warned Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17119069
“In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law,” warned Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”
Isn’t that written in the constitution clearly? Isn’t that what Impeachment for, the only way to prosecute a president over his acts during the presidency?
Impeachment is a process for determining wrongdoing, which isn’t the same as determining legal guilt.
Or to phrase it differently: there are things you could do that would get you fired from your job, but aren’t illegal.
He was impeached but not convicted for this insurrection act. This case is to determine if, now that he is a civilian again, he can be held accountable for the insurrection.
Previously, by Justice Department custom, the president was immune from prosecution while in office. That was just an internal stance and didn’t make him immune from prosecution indefinitely, just that you can’t arrest the president in the Oval Office. It could be seen as a pragmatic stance that we shouldn’t tie the president up in court battles while he’s supposed to be doing the job of presidenting or that he’d just obviously order his Justice Department not to arrest him so don’t try to do irrelevant things.
Now he’s immune forever, even after he’s no longer in control of the people who would be prosecuting him and he has no critical role to play in society. And it’s officially declared by the Supreme Court, not just custom.
Nope. Impeachment is part of a process to remove a president. Conviction in the senate only results in the president being removed. Crimes are prosecuted in a court of law. Not by a political process.