Free Speech For People strongly endorses the “No Kings” bill, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Schumer and joined by 29 co-sponsors, which will undo the Supreme Court’s damaging and wrongly decided ruling in Trump v. United States and ensure that neither the President nor Vice President is above the law.

The proposed law provides that no President, Vice President, or anyone who formerly held either position is immune from criminal prosecution for violating the laws of the United States unless Congress expressly grants such immunity. It will prohibit courts—including the Supreme Court—from halting or delaying proceedings, suppressing relevant evidence, or overturning convictions on the basis that the illegal acts were purportedly within the defendant’s “constitutional authority” or related to his or her “official duties.” 

The legislation will reverse the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. United States, which manufactured an unprecedented and dangerous concept of presidential immunity. The Supreme Court’s decision upends hundreds of years of precedent and betrays a defining feature of our constitutional democracy: that all people are equal in the eyes of the law and that no one, not even the president, is above it. It leaves our country vulnerable to corrupt, lawless officials who abuse the power of their office and may now assert that power as grounds to evade prosecution. And it is joined by two Justices who should have been recused from hearing the case due to clear conflicts of interest.

This legislation, like the amendment resolution recently introduced by Rep. Morelle and also endorsed by Free Speech For People, should not be necessary. But because it is, it is imperative that Congress act swiftly to pass this legislation, affirm the principles of equality before the law that are a bedrock of our democracy, and close the door to authoritarianism that the Supreme Court has opened.

Free Speech For People applauds Senator Schumer and his co-sponsors for taking swift and necessary steps to reject United States v. Trump  and to defend our democracy. 

Read more here about the democracy amendments, a series of amendments to reclaim our democracy that Free Speech For People supports.

Read more here about Free Speech For People’s demand for Supreme Court accountability and reform to restore legitimacy to the Court.