Discretion, Judgement, and the Supreme Court’s Docket: Litigating Presidential Immunity

The following remarks were delivered at Loyola University Chicago School of Law's Annual All-Journals Banquet in April 2024. The Supreme Court had not yet heard oral arguments or rendered a judgment in Trump v. United States, the presidential immunity case stemming from the former president's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In his remarks, Professor Sullivan reflected on the importance for American democracy of the issue presented in the case, namely, the extent to which a former president may be held legally responsible for criminal acts he allegedly committed during his presidency. The remarks did not go to the merits of the case, but to the Court's procedural decisions.

These remarks compare the Supreme Court's treatment of this case with other cases that raised similarly fundamental questions concerning the nature of our democracy.