Dear Commons Community,
The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday denied Donald Trump’s emergency plea to halt his criminal sentencing in New York, all but ensuring it would proceed as planned today.
In a brief unsigned order, a five-justice majority noted that Mr. Trump was not facing jail time and that he could still challenge his conviction “in the ordinary course on appeal.”
Although Mr. Trump had argued that being sentenced 10 days before his inauguration would distract from the presidential transition, the majority held, “The burden that sentencing will impose on the president-elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial.”
The majority included Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Sonia Sotomayor; Amy Coney Barrett; Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Four of the court’s conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh — noted dissents without providing reasons.
The sentencing is now free to move forward on Friday morning in the same Lower Manhattan courtroom where Mr. Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that had endangered his 2016 presidential campaign. The president-elect has indicated he plans to appear virtually.
After a series of unsuccessful legal maneuvers in New York State courts, the former and future president had hoped to prevail before a friendlier audience: a Supreme Court with a 6-to-3 conservative majority that includes three justices Mr. Trump appointed during his first term.
But the court opted to stay out of the case, despite having come to Mr. Trump’s rescue in a string of other recent matters. In July, the justices granted former presidents broad immunity for official acts, undermining a separate criminal case against Mr. Trump in Washington.
The show of independence from five of the justices in connection with the New York case — less than two weeks before the inauguration — capped the former and future president’s frenzied campaign to stave off the embarrassing spectacle of a sentencing. After months of delay, the sentencing will now formalize Mr. Trump’s conviction, cementing his status as the first felon to occupy the Oval Office.
A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted Mr. Trump, declined to comment.
A ray of justice from the Supreme Court. However, four justices dissenting is an embarrassment to the legal system!
Tony
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