Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf
Page Number: 96.0

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

29 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

¶10(d).  Instead, it worries that a prosecution for this con-
duct might make it harder for the President to use the Vice 
President “to advance [his] agenda in Congress.”  Ante, at 
24.  Such  a  prosecution,  according  to  the  majority,  “may
well hinder the President’s ability to perform his constitu-
tional functions.”  Ibid.  Whether a prosecution for this con-
duct  warrants  immunity  should  have  been  an  easy  ques-
tion,  but  the  majority  turns  it  into  a  debatable  one. 
Remarkably, the majority goes further and declines to deny
immunity  even  for  the  allegations  that  Trump  organized 
fraudulent  elector  slates,  pressured  States  to  subvert  the 
legitimate  election  results,  and  exploited  violence  at  the
Capitol to influence the certification proceedings.  It is not 
conceivable  that  a  prosecution  for  these  alleged  efforts  to
overturn a Presidential election, whether labeled official or 
unofficial under the majority’s test, would pose any “ ‘dan-
gers of intrusion on the authority and functions of the Ex-
ecutive Branch,’ ” ante, at 14, and the majority could have
said as much.  Instead, it perseverates on a threshold ques-
tion that should be immaterial. 

Looking  beyond  the  fate  of  this  particular  prosecution, 
the  long-term  consequences  of  today’s  decision  are  stark. 
The  Court  effectively  creates  a  law-free  zone  around  the
President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since 
the  Founding.  This  new  official-acts  immunity  now  “lies 
about like a loaded weapon” for any President that wishes
to place his own interests, his own political survival, or his 
own financial gain, above the interests of the Nation.  Kore-
matsu v. United States, 323 U. S. 214, 246 (1944) (Jackson, 
J., dissenting).  The President of the United States is the 
most  powerful  person  in  the  country,  and  possibly  the
world.  When he uses his official powers in any way, under 
the  majority’s  reasoning,  he  now  will  be  insulated  from 
criminal prosecution.  Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to as-
sassinate a political rival?  Immune.  Organizes a military