Amerika Dibikin Gaduh Putusan MA Soal Trump: Presiden Kini Jadi Raja Di Atas Hukum

US Supreme Court / UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION / Mossholder Team

JAKARTA - Three Supreme Court justices expressed dissenting opinion on the decision of the United States Supreme Court (MA) which gave Donald Trump immunity regarding official action as president.

Six conservative judges agreed to the majority opinion, but three liberal judges had different opinions.

Led by Sonia Sotomayor, they expressed "the fear of our democracy".

Judge Sotomayor outlines a hypothetical situation where the concept of immunity can be applied.

"In every official use of power, the President is now the king of the law," he said.

The difference in opinion was also followed by two other liberal judges, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan.

Judge Jackson wrote in a separate dissent the majority's decision that said he made a new and dangerous breakthrough by throw away the principles that have long been held by the state, no one is above the law.

"The core principle has long prevented our nation from turning into despotism (absolute political power, ed)," he said.

Judge Sotomayor argues that the majority of Supreme Court justices have created the idea of absolute immunity for a president who commits "official acts", although it is sometimes assumed that the president can be prosecuted for the actions they have taken during his tenure.

He cited Richard Nixon, who received a pardon from his successor president, Gerald Ford, for using his official power to obstruct an investigation into the Watergate scandal that eventually led to Nixon's resignation.

Those involved in this case think Nixon lacks immunity and can be tried after leaving office, Judge Sotomayor wrote.

His opinion also comes from history. He quoted US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who wrote the former president "can be subject to demands and penalties according to ordinary law".

But the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, argued that dissidents "carried a tone of catastrophe that was not proportional to what the Court was actually doing at this time".

He wrote that liberal judges spread fear based on hypothetical extremes "and considered their legal reasons weak.

Usually, differences of opinion in court include the word with respect but Sotomayor signed it by writing: Out of fear of our democracy, I have different opinions.

And Sotomayor's dissent was also conveyed by Biden's campaign manager, Beautiful Fulks, in a phone call with reporters.

"I'm immune, immune. They just handed over the keys to the dictatorship to Donald Trump," Fulks said.

Legal experts indicate that the scenarios made by the judges, although clearly visible, are still open to further interpretation, especially by lower courts.