A sitting president of the United States is granted immunity for Official Acts taken as President. It is under legal dispute whether he also enjoys immunity from criminal liability or prosecution.[a] Neither civil nor criminal immunity is explicitly granted in the Constitution or any federal statute.[1][2]
The Supreme Court of the United States found in Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) that the president has absolute immunity from civil damages actions regarding conduct within the "outer perimeter" of their duties. However, in Clinton v. Jones (1997), the court ruled against temporary immunity for sitting presidents from suits arising from pre-presidency conduct. Some scholars have suggested an immunity from arrest and criminal prosecution as well, a view which has become the practice of the Department of Justice under a pair of memoranda (1973 and 2000) from the Office of Legal Counsel. Presidents Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump were criminally investigated while in office, but none was prosecuted while in office.[b] In February 2024, former President Trump claimed absolute immunity from being investigated for any crimes committed while in office. In response to Trump's request, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from the former president on April 25.[5][6]
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- ^ Akhil Amar & Neal Katyal, Executive Privileges and Immunities: The Nixon and Clinton Cases, 108 Harv. L. Rev. 701, 702, 717 n.62 (1995) ("The Constitution nowhere explicitly describes what litigation immunity, if any, the President merits by dint of his unique constitutional role"; "Nixon recognized presidential immunity in the absence of an express congressional statute to the contrary" (citing Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731, 748 & n.27 (1982))). Charlie Savage, Can the President Be Indicted? A Long-Hidden Legal Memo Says Yes, N.Y. Times (July 22, 2017) ("Nothing in the Constitution or federal statutes says that sitting presidents are immune from prosecution, and no court has ruled that they have any such shield.").
- ^ Garvey, Todd (March 4, 2024). Presidential Immunity, Criminal Liability, and the Impeachment Judgment Clause (Report). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
- ^ Aliza Chasan, Trump has been charged, but Ulysses S. Grant was the first president to be arrested, CBS News (April 4, 2023).
- ^ Tori Otten, Donald Trump Becomes the First President Ever to Pose for a Mug Shot, The New Republic (4 August 2023).
- ^ "US Supreme Court sets April 25 Trump criminal immunity argument". Reuters. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ Fritze, John (March 6, 2024). "Supreme Court sets argument date in Trump immunity case for April 25 | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
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