new orleans –

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this month about presidential immunity and whether former President Donald Trump can stand trial on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The high court’s ruling will determine the course of some of the election-year legal cases for the presumptive Republican nominee, who faces 91 felony charges in four trials. These include knowingly withholding defense information in violation of the Espionage Act.

“Donald Trump is trying to show that the president of the United States is immune from criminal prosecution when acting in his official capacity,” Charles Bullock, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, told VOA.

“But I think the heart of the issue is how broadly Trump and his lawyers defined ‘official status,’” Bullock explained.

“They’re defining it very broadly right now. Trump said the president should be completely immune while he’s president, but the three-judge circuit panel that ruled against him raised the question: ‘Well, if the president hires What if a killer comes to take out one of their rivals? “Is this in an official capacity? So are they immune from prosecution? I think we would all say, of course not!”

Many Republicans continue to support Trump

The case before the Supreme Court this month includes three Trump appointees and involves federal charges that Trump spread false information about voter fraud and pressured Vice President Mike Pence to reject legitimate results submitted to Congress. Attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

On January 6, 2021, Congress’s certification of the electoral votes was disrupted by Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. Trump faces charges of obstructing an official proceeding for that attack.

The former president argued that he was acting in an official capacity and therefore could not be charged. “If the President faces criminal prosecution for official actions after leaving office, the President would be unable to carry out his duties and the office of the Presidency itself would be unable to maintain its vital independence,” the Trump campaign wrote in its Supreme Court filing.

The document continues: “Taking away criminal immunity would disable every future president from de facto blackmail and extortion while in office and subject him to years of trauma at the hands of his political opponents after leaving office.”

A POLITICO/Ipsos poll last month found that 70% of voters, including nearly half of Republicans, rejected Trump’s argument that the president should be immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office .

Jeff Williams, a Republican voter from Valparaiso, Indiana, believes the allegations against Trump show he is being unfairly targeted by Democrats.

“It seems to me that these are cases in Democratic-leaning districts where Democratic prosecutors want Democratic-leaning juries to vote against Trump just because they don’t like him,” Williams told VOA.

“Do I think the president should have complete immunity from the law? No way,” Williams said. “But have I seen any evidence that shows President Trump is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Absolutely not. This feels like a witch hunt.”

“Half the country will have to justify voting for criminals this year!”

“I can’t believe we’re facing this right now,” said Deborah Theobald, a Democratic voter in Woodstock, Georgia. “Half the country will have to justify voting for criminals this year!”

Fifty-five percent of Americans surveyed by Reuters/Ipsos said they would not vote for Donald Trump if a jury convicted him of a felony; 58% said they would not vote for the former president if he were currently Convicted of a felony, they won’t vote for him. Time served in prison.

“If a person commits a crime while in office, or even commits a serious crime before they hold office, then I think they should be prosecuted like every other American,” said Rebecca Urrutia, a Connecticut mother who Voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.

“Anyone who says the president should enjoy immunity from prosecution for crimes does not represent the Constitution or our country,” she said. “The president is a citizen and servant of our country, not a king or emperor, and if you break the law, I cannot vote for you.”

influence the upcoming election

Robert Collins, a professor of urban studies and public policy at Dillard University, said this is a turning point for the American legal system and a key political moment for Trump.

“Polling shows whether he is convicted or not will have a huge impact on the 2024 presidential election,” Collins told VOA. “But beyond the way these cases are decided, the longer the cases go on, the more likely Trump is to The more likely it is that a guilty verdict will be avoided before Election Day.”

Independent voters are a key group in swing states, with more than one-third saying in a POLITICO/Ipsos poll that they would be less likely to support Trump if he were convicted.

“But if a conviction doesn’t come in time for the election, or it’s too close to the election for voters to change their minds, then Republican voters may continue to support him,” Collins said. “And if he wins the election and is then convicted, then he will demonstrate that, as a sitting president, he can pardon himself. That’s a dangerous situation.”

Melbourne, Florida, voter Jillian Dani supported Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 and said the outcome of his criminal case will have a significant impact on her vote in November.

“On one hand, I’m not going to vote for a felon,” Denney told VOA. “But on the other hand, I’m concerned that this is a witch hunt against the people that the Democrats are worried about. I believe Clinton and Biden were criminals too, but they were not convicted. If Trump wasn’t convicted too, why should he be treated differently? How about treatment?”