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Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by inglor_cz on Monday July 01, 2024 @02:54PM (#40849121)
Doesn't this difference exist de facto?

Trump murdering his business partner at a dinner because they had a fallout is pretty clearly unofficial, while Trump ordering assassination of the Tyrant of Ruritania is official, albeit probably immoral and/or dangerous to boot.

Of course the grey zone between those two poles is going to be pretty wide.

Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by impalallama on Monday July 01, 2024 @03:05PM (#40849291)
The question becomes what if the President then uses their power to jail/execute political rivals? How would you rule that as unofficial? Tons of dictators jail rivals on the “official” business of maintaining order or peace or some other nebulous term. The presidents role to enforce law is so broad that it can be used to justify almost any act.
Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by Muromec on Monday July 01, 2024 @03:18PM (#40849462)
This, so much this. Nobody ever jails political opponents, obstructs justice and bullies media in their unofficial capacity. If there is immunity, it will be used to do all kinds of shticks.
Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by tomrod on Monday July 01, 2024 @03:58PM (#40849955)
Indeed. This feels much in line to the German Enabling Act of 1933.
Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by laidoffamazon on Monday July 01, 2024 @04:03PM (#40850016)
Critically, the former president was posting about how his political enemies should face military tribunals for treason yesterday
Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by pseudalopex on Monday July 01, 2024 @03:22PM (#40849530)
> Trump murdering his business partner at a dinner because they had a fallout is pretty clearly unofficial

Why? The majority said In dividing official from unofficial conduct, courts may not inquire into the President’s motives. Nor may courts deem an action unofficial merely because it allegedly violates a generally applicable law.[1]

[1] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-939_e2pg.pdf

Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by chx on Monday July 01, 2024 @03:12PM (#40849394)
> there is also no way to prove it’s “unofficial,” because any conversation the president has with their military advisers (where, for instance, the president tells them why they want a particular person assassinated) is official and cannot be used against them.
Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by sfink on Monday July 01, 2024 @03:14PM (#40849411)
You listed two extremes to demonstrate the difference, which is fine, but what about the example of Trump encouraging insurrection? It seems just a teeny bit relevant here, given that it is what prompted the case in the first place. And insurrection is definitely related to governing, so you can't discard it from consideration just because it's nothing like murdering a business partner. He could claim that an illegal decision was about to be made and so he had to use his executive authority to counteract it. That sounds like an official duty to me.
Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by breadwinner on Monday July 01, 2024 @04:15PM (#40850152)
> He could claim that an illegal decision was about to be made

He doesn't even have to provide such a justification because the court has said the President's motives cannot be used to decide if it was official or unofficial.

Re:Supreme Court rules ex-presidents have immunity for offic... by robertoandred on Monday July 01, 2024 @03:00PM (#40849213)
Uh, you're missing the fact that his business partner is a danger to national security. The motives are irrelevant.