ANDREW McCARTHY: Supreme Court allows Trump to be defamed as a criminal. But there is a catch

A divided Supreme Court has ruled to allow New York to list President-elect Trump’s name as a criminal ten days before he enters the White House.

As Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump-appointed Judge Amy Coney Barrett joined the Court’s three arbitrators – Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson – the Court highlighted the willingness of New York State Judge Juan Merchan to sentence the president-elect at 9:30am Friday morning. . The sentence was prompted by a jury’s ruling in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records brought by Democratic-elect Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg.

Four conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — indicated they would have granted Trump’s request to delay the conviction.

SUPREME COURT ENDORSES TRUMP’S ATTEMPT TO STAY JUDGMENT IN NEW YORK V. TRUMP

In last week’s ruling, denying Trump’s allegations after the trial and scheduling his sentencing Friday morning, Judge Merchan indicated that he would sentence Trump to a conditional discharge — meaning no jail time, no charges, no fines, and no employment after the conviction. any kind. Merchan also ruled that Trump will not need to attend the sentencing in person.

The president-elect announced that he will not appear in court in Manhattan on Friday. He will attend this sentence from a distance in order to reduce the burden that will be carried out in the ongoing transition leading up to the Inauguration Day on January 20.

TRUMP SAYS HE RESPECTS SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO GRANT HIS REQUEST FOR VACATION, VOWS TO FILE AN APPEAL

The majority ruled that Trump would not be disproportionately harmed by the sentence, for two important reasons. First, the Court did not rule on the merits of Trump’s argument that presidential immunity from criminal prosecution was violated by the district attorney’s introduction at trial of evidence of his official presidential acts. That is, Trump will still be able to file a motion to challenge his immunity claim, as well as other claims of gross error at trial. The appeal cannot proceed until Trump is convicted and sentenced, so the conviction will pave the way for that process.

Second, the Court effectively restrained Merchan from his alleged propensity to give Trump a conditional sentence. In theory, Merchan’s signing of that intent (according to a written opinion last week) was non-binding – technically, the judge shouldn’t decide the sentence until the parties are heard at the sentencing hearing, which won’t happen until Friday morning.

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However, the Supreme Court majority’s conclusion that this sentence is less burdensome for Trump’s presidential transition rests on Merchan’s assertion that he was relying on a non-custodial, non-custodial sentence. If Merchan were to change his mind at this point and impose a prison term, the Supreme Court would consider it treason. So, literally speaking, Merchan has no choice but to do what he said he would do.

The majority also relied on Merchan’s ruling that Trump did not need to attend the sentencing in person, meaning the process should be shorter and less disruptive to Trump’s conduct during the presidential transition.

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There was no dissenting opinion from four consecutive justices. Probably, they concluded that the same considerations that have caused the Court to recognize the immunity of the president in its opinion of July (in Trump v. United States) and supported the immunity of the president-elect – in particular, the obligation that the president should not be disturbed by worries and concerns. stigmatization of criminal proceedings while performing his incomparable constitutional duties. In presidential transitions, as Congress has mandated by law, the president-elect is busy preparing to assume those responsibilities from the first hours of the new administration.

As the president-elect has used his means to avoid impeachment, it will continue on Friday morning. Like many commentators, I opined that there are many reasons to overturn Trump’s conviction on appeal. The appeal process cannot begin until the sentence is passed.

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