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Former president Donald Trump appointed three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court:  Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Furthermore, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Virginia, helped with Trump’s “Stop the Steal” campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The Due Process clauses of the United States Constitution require judges to recuse themselves from cases in two situations: “Where the judge has a financial interest in the case's outcome” and “where there is otherwise a strong possibility that the judge's decision will be biased.”

Common sense would suggest that a judge should recuse himself from any case involving the person who appointed him to the Supreme Court. A judge whose wife had a strong role in attempting to overturn the results of an election of a person involved in a case should also recuse himself.

But on July 1 in the case of Donald J. Trump v. U.S., none of these four judges recused themselves. Unfortunately, because recusal rules leave the final decision to the judge, with no formal way for the chief justice or other members of the court to play any role in their colleague’s choice, all four judges chose to participate in the Donald J. Trump v. U.S. case.

The refusal of four of the judges to recuse themselves and the move away from focusing on the facts of the recent case to digressions on hypothetical scenarios undermines any confidence one might still have in the impartiality of this Supreme Court.

The majority's decision, by a 6-3 vote, granted Trump immunity for acts that the Supreme Court deems “official.”  This decision, stated dissenting Justice Sonia Sotomayer, “makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of government, that no man is above the law.”

Donald Trump will continue to act with impunity as he has done after the two failed efforts to convict him after his two impeachments. The Supreme Court is in cahoots with him to delay justice in order to assure his election in November. Democracy in America is tottering toward fascism.

Judy Parr

Holland

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