The Leadership Conference Statement on Trump v. United States

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick McNeil, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Trump v. United States:

“Today, the Supreme Court’s extremist majority once again dealt a devastating blow to the concept of equal justice under law and to the very core of our democracy. According to the majority, a former U.S. president can assert that they were just doing their job when there is evidence that they violated criminal laws and have ways to evade justice that no one else in government, or out of government, would get. In their delayed decision, the Court’s majority has gone well beyond any question they needed to consider to assert, for the first time in our history, that a former president’s motives cannot even be questioned and that juries cannot even consider evidence if that president says they were engaging in ‘official acts’ — like using the Justice Department to serve political interests.

“This opinion will go down in infamy. As Justice Sotomayor said in her dissent, ‘It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.’ Make no mistake: This decision, in which the majority includes justices who should have recused themselves as the appearance of bias and partiality was clear, will be viewed by history with scorn.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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