Members of congress from Texas react to historic SCOTUS ruling on presidential immunity
NORTH TEXAS — Reaction from members of Congress in Texas to the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Presidential immunity is falling along party lines.
U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, told CBS News Texas he is concerned. "It is an extremely alarming decision."
U.S. Representative Pat Fallon, R-4th Congressional District in North Texas praised the decision in an interview. "As an American, I think they got it exactly right," said Fallon.
The SCOTUS ruling comes as former President Donald Trump is facing criminal charges after being indicted for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The ruling narrowed the case against Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and legal experts say his criminal trial will likely not happen before the November election.
The Court's 6-3 ruling said the president may not be prosecuted for carrying out his constitutional duties and that he has "presumptive immunity" from being prosecuted for his official acts.
But the six conservatives also ruled the president has no such immunity for his unofficial acts.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent that was signed by the court's two other liberals saying the ruling, "Makes a mockery of the principle...that no man is above the law."
Congressman Doggett agreed with Justice Sotomayor's dissent. "I think it really takes us a giant leap down the path to dictatorship. I don't think that's too strong a term to use when you read the powerful dissent of Justice Sotomayor, and she talks about her fear for democracy."
Congressman Fallon disagreed with Doggett saying, "I don't know of many people, if any, that want the president to be above the law and to be able to commit criminal acts simply because he or she is in office. At the same time, we want to protect the president when he or she is doing their official duties."
Doggett said he believes the ruling will raise the stakes of this November's presidential election. "We've had almost 250 years of American democracy that was sitting on the important checks and balances, and this suggests that the president will become an all-powerful strongman if you have a president in there who wants to do that."
Fallon rejected that argument and said criticism against the former president was unwarranted. "Complete fear mongering hyperbole quite frankly, I mean, that's just absolutely ridiculous," said Fallon. "I remember that fear mongering in 2016 that he was going to get us in World War 3. Russia was going to control him and oddly enough, that he's the only president since Vladimir Putin took power in Russia where Vladimir Putin didn't have any new military adventures."
In response to the ruling, Mr. Trump released a statement in all capital letters on his social media platform, calling the ruling a, "Big win for our Constitution and Democracy. Proud to be an American."
The Biden-Harris campaign said, "Democracy hangs in the balance and President Biden and Vice President Harris are standing up to defend it."
The Supreme Court sent the criminal case against Trump back to the federal judge who Is overseeing the case in Washington, D.C.
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