SCOTUS will hear Trump's Magical Immunity Appeal

[bats]

From scotusblog.com:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to decide whether former President Donald Trump can be tried on criminal charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In a one-page unsigned order, the justices ordered a federal appeals court to continue to keep on hold its ruling rejecting Trump's claims of immunity from prosecution, and they fast-tracked the case for oral argument in late April.

Makes one wonder if at least one of the Justices might agree with Trump's lawyer that a president could order a military hit against his political opponent and be immune from criminal prosecution.

At the very least, it delays the proceedings so that a resolution of the DC case may not happen before the election.

https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/02/supreme-court-takes-up-trump-immunity-appeal/

[HighStepper]

The Supreme Court is not known for efficiency. It is odd that they won't hear the case until the week of April 22nd. They seem to have no concern about the clock. If the Supreme Court decided the case that same week, given the prep time for the trial, and about 3 months of trial time, a verdict would probably not come before October.  That's if all the stars line up. Good chance the trial will not happen until after the election.

[bats]

The Supreme Court is not known for efficiency. It is odd that they won't hear the case until the week of April 22nd. They seem to have no concern about the clock. If the Supreme Court decided the case that same week, given the prep time for the trial, and about 3 months of trial time, a verdict would probably not come before October.  That's if all the stars line up. Good chance the trial will not happen until after the election.

If they were at all concerned about the clock, they would have taken the special counsel up on his request to leapfrog the appellate court and go directly to SCOTUS. Instead, it seems they didn't have the four votes needed.

Now, they have the four votes (at least) to hear it themselves, which suggests they wanted it for themselves all along. Nothing wrong with that, but why the slow walk?

One explanation is that they don't want this to happen before the election. If that's true, it would confirm how hopelessly partisan they are, in large part because of the guy they're now protecting.

[Danno]

things that make you go hmmmm

[HighStepper]

Well, based on the arguments Trump's lawyers the president could order Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political adversary and could only be prosecuted if first he was impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate.

So, Biden could have Trump assassinated. The Republican House would get their impeachment and the Senate controlled by the Democrats would not convict. Therefore, Biden would not be subject to prosecution.

[bats]

Well, based on the arguments Trump's lawyers the president could order Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political adversary and could only be prosecuted if first he was impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate.

So, Biden could have Trump assassinated. The Republican House would get their impeachment and the Senate controlled by the Democrats would not convict. Therefore, Biden would not be subject to prosecution.

This humorous hypothetical shows how ridiculous Trump's impeachment-first double-jeopardy argument was. Indeed, the Supreme Court completely ignored that question (one of two raised by Trump on appeal). 

I think that means the circuit court's rejection of Trump's argument stands. (The circuit court said the obvious, which is that the double jeopardy clause in the constitution applies to criminal punishment, not to a political punishment such as impeachment.)

[Tuscano]

If they were at all concerned about the clock, they would have taken the special counsel up on his request to leapfrog the appellate court and go directly to SCOTUS. Instead, it seems they didn't have the four votes needed.

Now, they have the four votes (at least) to hear it themselves, which suggests they wanted it for themselves all along. Nothing wrong with that, but why the slow walk?

One explanation is that they don't want this to happen before the election. If that's true, it would confirm how hopelessly partisan they are, in large part because of the guy they're now protecting.

Right on! What I was thinking

[Danno]

Only took SCOTUS 4 days to decide Gore vs Bush election.
This is just as important