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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   29974 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 1, 2024

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But is there a carve out for things "not necessary to the execution of his duty?" I don't believe there is, since that seems to directly go against this recent court decision. The judiciary wouldn't get to decide whether a specific implementation is "unnecessary" or "too-illegal." The president gets a presumption of immunity for all of his official duties, however he chooses to discharge them. The alternative just makes the decision moot because any prosecutor can just claim that a specific action is a "too-illegal" remedy to get an indictment.

So, yes, under this decision, I believe that, since the president can direct our troops, he can order Seal Team Six to execute his political opponents. The ordering part is the official act, and is immune to prosecution.

Except what the lawful orders can be issued is not preclusive to the President, but the rules for the government and regulations for the armed forces established by Congress per Article 1, and thus not immune to prosecution by the standard of the court.

The President has no authority for issuing unlawful orders, and thus the immunity argument can only apply if ordering Seal Team Six to execute his political opponents is a lawful order in the framework already passed by Congress.

Upon further research, you're likely right. This fact was not apparent to me reading through the reporting and discussions of this court opinion on other social media.

The President's authority over Seal Team Six is that of the Commander-in-Chief. He can give them orders. It's pretty well-established that there are legal orders and illegal orders and which is which is decided by Congress.

(2) Not all of the President’s official acts fall within his “conclusive and preclusive” authority. The reasons that justify the President’s absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for acts within the scope of his exclusive constitutional authority do not extend to conduct in areas where his authority is shared with Congress.

In these areas, the Court says, he has a presumption of immunity, not absolute immunity. If the President gives Seal Team Six a blatantly illegal order like that one, and the prosecutors did a halfway-decent job, the courts would likely find the presumption was rebutted.

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