Illinois leaders react to Supreme Court ruling on Trump's presidential immunity
ILLINOIS - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former Presidents of the United States have immunity from prosecution for "official acts" taken while in office.
Illinois leaders voiced their concerns about presidential accountability after the 6-3 opinion came down Monday morning.
The opinion said that a former president has "some immunity" from criminal prosecution. They are entitled to immunity for any official actions taken in office, but they also noted that unofficial acts have no immunity.
SCOTUS decided it would not fully rule on former President Donald Trump's claim of immunity specifically regarding his election interference case, but would instead send the case back to a lower court for further evaluation.
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Trump reacts to Supreme Court ruling in presidential immunity case
The former president wrote in a social media post following the ruling that it's a "big win for our constitution and democracy."
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois released the following statement Monday morning:
"The Supreme Court majority’s decision today granting sweeping immunity for much of the former President’s acts to overturn a free and fair election is unmoored by constitutional principle and historical precedent. The notion that the most powerful person in our country cannot be held accountable for illegal acts in the Oval Office undermines our country’s most basic edict – that no one is above the law.
This decision invites lawlessness and abuse of power by a rogue President. It is a sad day for American justice."
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Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker shared concerns with the ruling, saying, "No person, not even a president, ought to be above the law."
"SCOTUS today left open that possibility. When Trump tried to overturn the results of an election he lost in 2020, it was not the official act of a president. It was the act of a despotic narcissist attempting to overthrow our democracy to cling to power, and he needs to answer for his actions," Pritzker said in a statement.
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth released the following statement:
"In America, no one should be above the law, but this Supreme Court’s majority—including three of Trump’s hand-picked Justices and two Justices with clear ethical conflicts of interest—just sent a message to Donald Trump and any other would-be dictator that, as Justice Sotomayor dissented, ‘the President is now a king above the law.
The damage this disastrous ruling will have on the future of our Republic simply cannot be overstated, and history will not look kindly on the Justices who just empowered any President to act as the kind of lawless king our founders established this country to escape."