People everywhere are face-palming as President Donald Trump wants to claim presidential immunity for groping a woman 10 years before he became president.
As a practicing attorney, anytime I see phrases like “presidential immunity” I have to check it out. In law school, we take a class called Constitutional Law, and it’s no walk in the park.
Some of the more complicated issues are difficult for even lawyers to work out, which is why we have the Supreme Court. But one of the most basic principles of Constitutional law comes from the Clinton v. Jones case, which says very clearly that a president can still be sued for something he did not relating to his presidential duties.
If you don’t remember that case, it was decided back during Bill Clinton’s administration when Paula Jones sued him for sexual harassment. He claimed presidential immunity, which meant that he can’t be sued.
The Supreme Court told him in the clearest possible terms that yes, you can. Amongst all of the complicated legal issues SCOTUS handles, this one is pretty simple.
So why is Trump’s legal team trying to claim it? Well here’s their written response to the lawsuit:
“This action should be dismissed without prejudice to Ms. Zervos refiling after the President completes his presidency because this State Court does not have jurisdiction to hear a civil action against a sitting President… This Court lacks the authority pursuant to the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution to exercise jurisdiction in this case because a state court cannot control President Trump — who uniquely embodies the Executive Branch — or interfere with his ability to perform his duties …”
That’s not how this works, guys. Just because you work for the federal government doesn’t mean you are automatically exempt from being sued in state courts. And most legal experts agree. But because SCOTUS never said anything specifically about state courts, Trump’s legal team is throwing the equivalent of a legal Hail Mary.
So much for that all star legal team.
Watch a discussion of this case here (after the jump):
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
