Did the Supreme Court really just give U.S. presidents the power to assassinate opponents?

All the focus on Joe Biden’s political future this week overshadowed one of the more jaw-dropping allegations in American political history.

Did the U.S. Supreme Court really just give presidents the right to murder their political opponents?

Liberal justices argue it did.

In their dissent in the historic presidential immunity case, Trump v. United States, the court’s minority claimed the decision did more — much more — than just help the former U.S. president potentially escape his most serious legal predicament. It imperilled American democracy, they argued. And President Joe Biden has taken up that theme, warning that America’s nearly two-and-a-half-century-old republic is under assault. 

“In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, signed by two colleagues.

“[Let’s say he] orders the Navy’s Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? 

“Immune. Immune, immune, immune.”

The court’s majority opinion dismissed her writing as hyperbolic. But it never specifically denied the charge; in fact, the majority ruling was strangely muted on such an explosive allegation, one which calls into question the future of the republic.

Legal analysts seem split. Some, but not all, accuse Sotomayor of exaggerating. The outlet Politico quotes constitutional lawyers arguing the ruling did, in fact, potentially give the president dictatorial powers. 

Here’s what the decision clearly does: It makes the president immune from prosecution for actions where he’s obviously exercising his official role. He is not immune for acts unrelated to his role. But in ambiguous cases, he’s presumed to be immune, and courts must decide on a case-by-case basis. But the court was light on specific examples. 

The Supreme Court then punted the issue back to a trial court, further delaying Trump’s criminal trial for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election; it also weakened that case by forbidding the use of some evidence. 

So what to believe here? Did the…