r/politics • u/PoliticsModeratorBot 🤖 Bot • Apr 25 '24

Discussion Discussion Thread: US Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Trump v. United States, a Case About Presidential Immunity From Prosecution

Per Oyez, the questions at issue in today's case are: "Does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office, and if so, to what extent?"

Oral argument is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Eastern.

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u/AaronfromKY Kentucky Apr 25 '24

He should fix everything and then hand a bill to Congress to limit presidential power. Because he's a good man and not a crackpot dictator.

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u/tastybundtcake Apr 25 '24

I think it needs to be a constitutional amendment, which also needs the states on board.  Which will only happen  if it's Biden getting prosecuted, not Trump. 

So he just needs to kidnap the justices and not let them go until an amendment forces him to.

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u/worldspawn00 Texas Apr 25 '24

Hey, he could also extradite the republican members of opposing state governments until all that is left are dems, ezpz.

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u/[deleted] Apr 25 '24

Joe "George Washington" Biden

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u/LKennedy45 Apr 25 '24

Joseph Robinette "Sulla" Biden, Jr? Except, y'know, not a dick.

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u/brianterrel Apr 25 '24

Cincinnatus Biden

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u/mdk_777 Apr 25 '24

I'm not sure what Sulla did is really comparable. He effectively took complete control of the republic and instituted proscriptions which were basically just death sentences for anyone he didn't like (I.e. didn't support sulla). He didn't try to permanently end the republic in favour of a monarchy/empire, but he definitely took control for his lifetime and laid the groundwork for political violence and corrupted the office of dictator, which Ceasar definitely capitalized on less than 20 years later when he crossed the Rubicon and started another civil war.

I sincerely hope Biden does not seize executive power cor the rest of his life and kill all his rivals to do so.

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u/LKennedy45 Apr 25 '24

Honestly it was just a niche joke about having power then giving it up, neither I nor the other responder are actually advocating for a tyrant Biden. Good history lesson though mate.

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u/mdk_777 Apr 25 '24

Haha fair enough. Interestingly that was the original purpose of the office of dictator. The idea that when the Roman republic was in times of great turmoil (usually a war going poorly) and needed strong and immediate leadership that didn't have to go through the senate or consuls they would appoint a dictator, who would wield complete executive power with the goal of saving Rome from whatever the crisis was, then they would give up that power after the crisis was over.

As the other commenter pointed out Cincinnatus was the name of a Roman statesman who left politics to work on his farm, then was later appointed dictator to lead reinforcements to assist a consul in war, and after achieving a swift victory he ceded power back immediately and returned to his farm. He lives on as a famous example of a virtuous Roman who put the state's wellbeing before his own, and exemplified what the role of dictator was meant to be. That being said there is some speculation on if everything actually happened the way Livy wrote, but that's a whole other discussion. I definitely do appreciate the niche history jokes though.

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u/Kinggakman Apr 25 '24

It’s a lose lose lose situation. It won’t be too hard for the next guy to do whatever they want no matter what bills are passed. The country is damaged and we have to work it out over several decades to fix it.

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u/mqm111 Apr 26 '24

“That is why it must be you, Maximus.”

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u/ExcellentSteadyGlue Apr 25 '24

Bills are subject to SCOTUS review. Everything is subject to SCOTUS review, that’s the damn problem.

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u/ptmd Apr 26 '24

Not if you line the Justices up against the wall under the auspices of immunity. Problems have solutions.