Common Cause Urges SCOTUS to Rule Quickly in Trump v. US to Avoid Perception of Bias

Today, Common Cause filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States urging the court to decide Donald J. Trump v. United States expeditiously in order to avoid perceptions of political bias and to allow a lower court trial of the former president on conspiracy and corruption charges to be held before the November presidential election.

“The American people deserve a trial and a verdict on these serious charges before they go to the polls in November,” said Virginia Kase Solomón, president of Common Cause. “The presumptive Republican presidential nominee stands criminally charged with conspiracy and obstruction stemming from his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It is critically important that the Supreme Court rule quickly, as it has in past presidential cases, so that justice can be rendered before Americans cast their ballots.”

The brief emphasizes that Trump’s claim of absolute immunity from prosecution for the criminal acts alleged in his pending indictment is “untenable and poses a direct threat to the rule of law.” In urging the High Court to rule quickly in the case, the Common Cause brief cites previous cases – including United States v. Nixon and Bush v. Gore – where the Justices acted quickly when the presidency was at stake and the public interest demanded speed.

The brief asks the Supreme Court to act with the same expediency it did earlier this year in deciding Trump v. Anderson in the former president’s favor when it ruled that states cannot disqualify any candidate for federal office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. In light of that ruling, the brief warns that a failure to act quickly could open the Court to the perception that it is attempting to influence the 2024 election in favor of Trump.

“Any impression that the Supreme Court is slow-walking a decision about presidential immunity when they have acted with speed in Anderson, Bush and Nixon could dangerously undermine public faith in the court,” said Kathay Feng, vice president of programs for Common Cause. “The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved above the main entrance to the Supreme Court, and Americans expect no less. There is no caveat.”

A grand jury indicted Trump in In August 2023, on four charges related to his actions to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In February, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the trial should move forward.

Oral arguments before the Supreme Court in Trump v. United States will be held on April 25.

To read Common Cause’s amicus brief, click here.