“At the constitutional level where we work, 90% of any decision is emotional. The rational part of us supplies the reasons for supporting our predilections.” —William O. Douglas, former justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Some weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court confronted an issue that the authors of the Constitution never envisioned. Summarized in its opening remarks, the majority opinion observed that: [Trump v. United States, 144 S. Ct. 2312, HN1(2024)]
This case is the first criminal prosecution in our nation’s history of a former president for actions taken during his presidency. We are called upon to consider whether and under what circumstances such a prosecution may proceed. Doing so requires careful assessment of the scope of presidential power under the Constitution. We undertake that responsibility conscious that we must not confuse “the issue of a powers validity with the cause it is invoked to promote,” but must instead focus on the “enduring consequences upon the balanced power structure of our republic.”
