Dr. Richard Koral, Leader of The New York Society for Ethical Culture and an attorney, is in the New York Times with a letter to the editor decrying “unusual and unexpected” recent court decisions benefiting former President Trump and conservative movement:
The stunning decision to dismiss the documents case against Donald Trump, which quickly followed the Supreme Court’s decision that presidents, current and past, shall have broad immunity from prosecution, has ushered in a new era of impunity for lawlessness in the executive branch.
That this happens now is especially chilling, when the Republican candidate for president publicly declares his contempt for law, his fondness for dictators and his declared intention to be a dictator on “Day 1.”
That these unusual and unexpected decisions seem so tailored for a president ready to cast aside historical norms, rules and legal restrictions makes it appear as though there is a process afoot to transform our nation into something new and sinister.
The decision to dismiss the documents case ought to be overturned. However, the Supreme Court’s grant of immunity for the amorphous and ill-defined range of a president’s “official acts” is an act of purely inventive judicial legislation. It is antithetical to the goals, history and spirit of our national zeitgeist, as well as being wholly unsupported by the Constitution. As it was the Supreme Court’s declaration, there may be no avenue to overturn its tragic error.
At a time when morality and ethical constraints have few incentives to support them, a body of law serves to regulate behavior by compulsion and the threat of prosecution. It is frightening to see that recently appointed judges are devising ways for a new president to ignore the law and act with utter impunity.
