ACLU Supporter, the Supreme Court gave Donald Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution today.
The Court ruled that Trump cannot be criminally charged for a wide range of “official acts” – including his attempt to use the Justice Department to obstruct the results of a free and fair election. This ruling effectively places presidents above the law by giving them a free pass to engage in criminal acts without criminal accountability.
A functioning democracy demands that we be able to hold public officials accountable for their criminal acts. We’ll be keeping a close eye as the criminal case against Trump returns to lower courts to determine which of Trump’s actions he can be charged for – a move that is likely to tie the case up in court for years.
And this is just the closing update from an already busy SCOTUS term. The ACLU has filed briefs in multiple pivotal cases that determine the future of our rights including:Free Speech Online: The Court also recognized today that government attempts to control the editorial decisions of social media companies violate the First Amendment. Today’s decision is a win for free speech in the digital age.
Reproductive Rights: In June, the Court delayed an attack on medication abortion. It also sent a case designed to gut emergency medical care mandates for pregnant people back down to lower courts – choosing not to protect access to abortion care in emergency situations.
While this is a temporary sigh of relief, the Court left the door open to anti-abortion politicians continuing these lines of attack, and they have already vowed to do just that. We’ll keep showing up to fight back to protect our abortion rights.
Housing Rights: The Court also ruled that cities can punish unhoused people for sleeping in public – even if they have no place else to go. This decision does nothing to solve the housing crisis and leaves unhoused people even more vulnerable to criminalization.
In addition to all that has unfolded this term, the Supreme Court also announced they will hear from transgender youth, their families, and their doctors in our challenge brought against Tennessee’s ban prohibiting them from accessing gender-affirming medical care next session.
Please know, we’re able to show up in all of these cases – and cases to come – because of the unwavering support of people like you, ACLU Supporter. Thank you so much for fueling our work through another long Supreme Court session, and for staying with us in the fight ahead.
With thanks for all you do,
The ACLU Team
American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA