As the Supreme Court considers arguments relating to former President Donald Trump’s claim of “absolute immunity” from prosecution, legal experts and commentators have sounded the alarm about the potential implications for American democracy.
During the oral arguments, conservative justices, including Justice Samuel Alito, suggested that holding a president accountable post-office could destabilize the country as a democracy. Michael Dreeben, representing the Department of Justice, emphasized that no former president has faced criminal prosecution after leaving office because none, except Trump, had refused to accept the outcome of a democratic election and encouraged a mob to block the counting of electoral votes.
The implications of the conservative justices’ stance on presidential immunity extend beyond the case at hand. Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor, described the oral arguments as a “shameful performance by the court,” which potentially plays into Trump’s wishes by delaying the ruling.
Legal observers have pointed out that the arguments presented by Trump’s legal team could erode the principles of democracy. Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern of Slate accused the court’s right-wing bloc of acting like “cynical partisans,” potentially enabling a president to wield power in pursuit of illegal ends without consequence.
Democracy is a strong driver of a healthy economy. Economists have found that democratization causes an increase in GDP per capita of between 20% and 25%. Conversely, there is also indisputable evidence of the economic costs of democratic decline. These costs include stagnation, policy instability, cronyism, brain drain, and violence. Under autocratic regimes, businesses face new risks, as autocrats refashion markets to reinforce their political dominance. Common consequences are retaliatory and punitive applications of taxation, regulation, and licensure; discriminatory access to government contracts and public services; and extortionary demands for political contributions. The economic risks of autocracy are clear.
The stakes are high as the Supreme Court deliberates on the case, with some experts, including Andrew Weissmann, former federal prosecutor, warning that the nation is “one vote away from sort of the end of democracy as we know it, with checks and balances.”
Relevant articles:
– Legal experts: “Shameful” Supreme Court puts US one vote away from “the end of democracy”, salon.com, 04/30/2024
– Democracy is good for the economy. Can business defend it?, Brookings Institution, Mon, 29 Apr 2024 13:32:23 GMT
– Renewed threats to oust the Speaker show the dire implications for US democracy of Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party., LSE Home, Mon, 29 Apr 2024 09:54:46 GMT
– Ex-Prosecutor Sounds Alarm On ‘Shocking’ SCOTUS Takeaway From Trump Immunity Case, Yahoo! Voices, Mon, 29 Apr 2024 13:05:42 GMT
– What Trump’s war on the ‘Deep State’ could mean: ‘An army of suck-ups’, CNN, Sat, 27 Apr 2024 20:41:00 GMT