DEMAND PROGRESS: Sign the petition: Justice Sotomayor fears for our democracy, threat of presidential power to kill political opponents

The right-wing justices on the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. president has “absolute immunity” for all “official acts.” That means former president Donald Trump may not face any accountability for his role in January 6.¹

In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, "In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law." She said she feared for our democracy and warned that this ruling could even allow the president to kill political opponents with impunity.²

Two of the justices issuing this dangerous ruling, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, have clear conflicts of interest in this case but still refused to recuse themselves — one of the biggest examples of ethical violations in the Court’s history. We need a SCOTUS ethics act NOW to put an end to this blatant corruption.

Sign the petition: Tell Congress to pass a SCOTUS ethics act to root out corruption on the Court. Hold the right-wing justices on the Court accountable!

Thomas shouldn’t be ruling on January 6 cases because his wife, Ginni Thomas, attended the January 6 Stop the Steal rally and pleaded with senior White House staff to help Trump overturn the election in the days leading up to the insurrection.³

Alito shouldn’t rule on January 6 cases because a Stop the Steal style flag was flying over his house. The flag flew as the Court considered whether or not to take on a critical election case in the days after the Capitol riots, just before President Biden was sworn in.⁴

Scandal after scandal has rocked the Supreme Court. Every single right-wing justice has been implicated in at least one striking ethical violation. Congress hasn’t taken the action necessary to stop corruption and preserve the fairness and independence of SCOTUS. Now, the Court may let Trump off the hook and hand the American presidency a shocking, dangerous level of power.

Add your name: Congress has sat on the sidelines long enough. Hold the right-wing justices on the Supreme Court accountable!

Thanks for taking action,
Joey and the team at Demand Progress

1. Reuters, “US Supreme Court rules Trump has broad immunity from prosecution,” July 1, 2024.
2. Business Insider, “Sotomayor says the president can now 'assassinate a political rival' without facing prosecution,”July 1, 2024.
3. The New Yorker, “Legal Scholars Are Shocked By Ginni Thomas’s 'Stop the Steal' Texts,” March 25, 2022.
4. The New York Times, “At Justice Alito’s House, a ‘Stop the Steal’ Symbol on Display,” May 16, 2024.

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