Rule of Law

CAC’s Testimony to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on the Supreme Court Immunity Decision

On September 24, 2024, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to discuss the Supreme Court’s unprecedented and unsupported immunity decision in Trump v. United States. CAC submitted testimony reiterating that neither the Constitution’s text nor the history of its drafting provides any support for the proposition that a former president enjoys immunity from federal prosecution. Our Supreme Court amicus brief, filed on behalf of an ideologically diverse group of constitutional law scholars and cited in Justice Sotomayor’s dissent, explains that the Framers created a system of government with a president, not a king who was above the law. In reaching its decision recognizing some immunity from criminal prosecution for former presidents, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority failed to engage with this text and history.