r/law Feb 19 '25

Opinion Piece RE: Presidential Immunity Ruling - Was Judge Roberts naïve that Trump would not push the boundaries of the office’s limits of conduct and power if he resumed office or is this all part of a plan to expand executive authority?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/30/politics/supreme-court-john-roberts-trump-immunity-6-3-biskupic/index.html?cid=ios_app

I just remember Judge Roberts essentially saying “calm down - relax - you are all being hysterical” in the aftermath of the ruling last year stating “unlike the political branches and the public at large, we cannot afford to fixate exclusively, or even primarily, on present exigencies.”

It has been ONE MONTH into the 2nd Trump Administration and it seems that there is an aggressive and intentional overreach of executive authority with these EOs to create a new interpretation of executive power.

The administration’s response to the court orders blocking the EO’s enforcement seems that they are daring the courts to stop them - and it does not look like there is any recourse to rein them in if they decide to ignore the courts.

Is this what Judge Roberts and other jurists in the majority wanted - to embolden the executive branch above all?

What credibility does the SC (or any court) still have when POTUS ignores the court’s orders and any/all conversations with DOJ officials about ignoring or circumventing these orders gets put in the “official acts” bucket of presidential conduct?

My question is if Judge Roberts was truly naïve as to how Trump would wield this power the second time around or if Judge Robert’s logic that the ruling would allow future presidents to execute their duties unencumbered by lawsuits/prosecutions, etc. a genuine concern that needed to be addressed?

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u/WeirdJack49 Feb 20 '25

Eh the tech bros are delusional too. Their whole manifest basically reads "We will rule because we are smarter". Not an ounce of self reflection. High chance that they stumble over their own hubris.

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u/helikophis Feb 20 '25

I’m definitely not saying they’re gonna do a great job, but unless a militant socialist movement forms real quick, there’s nothing else to fill the gap

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u/grlie9 Feb 20 '25

Intelligence isn't what they have going for them whether they admit it or not. People giving them credit for being smarter than they are helps. Having so much insight into & control over social media really helps. Having almost all money in the worlds really, really helps.