The US Supreme Court Dodges the Ball

On December 22, 2023, the United States Supreme Court announced it would not take the direct appeal requesting an immediate ruling on Presidential immunity involving Donald Trump, tossing it back to the appellate court. The court's decision to do nothing at this point in time has profound impacts on the case and the United States. The issue involved is immunity so unlike other legal issues which might come up in a court, a defendant claiming immunity is essentially arguing NOTHING in the case should progress because it would impose a burden on the defendant who might not even be subject to prosecution. In the case of Trump, this allows the ping pong between the trial court and appellate court on this immunity issue to continue and FREEZES any other steps in the process the court might pursue that require work on the part of Trump's team. The net result is until the appellate court makes a ruling, virtually NOTHING happens on ANY case the federal government might pursue. That includes a new case in Michigan in which Trump himself personally spoke with Republican canvassers trying to get them to withhold certification of votes in Wayne County (metro Detroit). And of course, regardless of what the appellate court does, their ruling will be either appealed by Jack Smith (if they rule a President HAS immunity) or by Donald Trump (if they rule a President does NOT have immunity) and it will go right back to... ...the United States Supreme Court, otherwise known as the DC office of the Federalist Society. This decision not to decide now could be interpreted in multiple ways. ONE -- The USSC simply wants to avoid the appearance of meddling by requiring the case to go through the normal appellate process like any other case. Those coming to this conclusion might be assuming the USSC is doing what it can to tamp down the inevitable conspiracy theories and violence that might erupt in alt-right circles if the court is seen aggressively becoming involved. TWO -- The USSC actively wants the entire issue to stay out of its hands if at all possible and one logically possible way to do that is to defer an immediate ruling, allow the appellate court to rule one way or the other, then hope the party on the losing end declines to appeal. This makes ZERO sense. Even if one assumes lower courts might rule in a way that implies Presidential immunity because they cannot find language in prior law to support making such a cut and dry ruling DENYING Presidential immunity, such a ruling will absolutely be appealed until leadership of the Justice Department changes hands. Trump himself will NEVER give up because this is the only thing keeping him out of jail and he has plenty of other people's money to pay lawyers for eternity. THREE -- The USSC actively wants the entire issue to stay out of its hands if at all possible and a SECOND way to do that is to allow normal procedural delays to push any ultimate trial far beyond the point where it can affect the November 2024 election, allowing Trump to win, take office in January 2025 and kill the case himself. Problem solved. Case goes away. FOUR -- The USSC actively wants their patron saint Trump to actually re-assume office as President but want to keep their fingerprints off any actions that would facilitate that happening. By failing to decide an issue NOW that will CLEARLY at some point reach their docket anyway, the USSC is telegraphing they have no concern with Trump regaining the Presidency and -- more disturbingly -- they believe Presidents HAVE immunity for their acts in office. The failure by the USSC to actively engage in this case and clarify this pending question is the ultimate proof of not only how corrupt and insular the USSC is as an institution and as individuals but also the ultimate proof how corrupt America's judicial system has become. The system is already biased towards those that can afford more in legal fees. In this case, attempts to appear unbiased are leading some judges to literally treat issues related to Trump cases before them like any other case, with weeks between court appearances between motions and filings, etc., like a property dispute over a privacy fence is being adjudicated. The most appalling aspect of the USSC's decision to dodge this issue is that they may not only have a majority that wants Trump to re-take office, but that majority may think they are protecting the court's standing not only with the future President but the public as well. The reality is that a future President Trump will have no more respect for the USSC than he will for the millions of Americans that will be subjected to the forces of revenge and autocracy unleashed by the D-list and F-list players that will take over in a Trump II Administration. The USSC will likely NEVER regain prior levels of support from the public in light of its last decade of originalist retreat into a legal fantasyland devoid of civil rights and privacy rights. This case of Presidential immunity could very well be the ball game for the United States. A republic, if you can keep it... Indeed. WTH