US Supreme Court Decisions Shape Presidential Immunity and Biden Policies

Recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court have significant implications for both presidential immunity and Biden’s administration. The Court granted Donald Trump broad protection from criminal prosecution for official acts as president, while allowing Biden’s student debt relief plan to proceed and sidestepping decisions on state social media laws.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

US Supreme Court leaves Judge Tanya Chutkan to parse Trump immunity

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity leaves Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine how much of the federal criminal case involving Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election can survive. The 6-3 ruling on Monday, with the court's conservatives in the majority, declared that Trump has broad protection from criminal prosecution for actions that fell within his official responsibilities as president under the U.S. Constitution.

Takeaways from US Supreme Court ruling on Trump immunity

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Monday that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for his official acts as president plunges a major criminal case against him into doubt and all but assures he will not face trial before the Nov. 5 election. Here are some takeaways from the decision:

US court allows part of Biden student debt relief plan to resume

A U.S. appeals court allowed President Joe Biden's administration to move forward with implementing a key part of a new student debt relief plan designed to lower monthly payments for millions of Americans. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday put on hold an injunction issued by a judge in Kansas last week at the urging of Republican-led states that argued the U.S. Department of Education's debt relief plan was unlawful.

US Supreme Court sidesteps dispute on state laws regulating social media

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped making a decision on the legality of Republican-backed laws in Florida and Texas designed to restrict the power of social media companies to curb content that the platforms deem objectionable.

The justices unanimously threw out separate judicial decisions involving challenges brought by tech industry trade groups to the two laws under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment limits on the government's ability to restrict speech. The justices decided the lower courts did not adequately assess the First Amendment implications and directed them to conduct further analysis.

Trump ally Steve Bannon begins prison term for contempt

Steve Bannon, an influential Donald Trump ally, reported to prison on Monday to serve a four-month sentence after he was convicted for defying a congressional subpoena from the committee that probed the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack. A defiant Bannon arrived at a low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, and spoke to reporters and a cheering group of supporters. He called himself a "political prisoner" and said his right-wing populist followers would spread his message while he served his sentence.

Biden team weighs July town hall, interviews to reassure voters

U.S. President Joe Biden may increase his direct engagement with voters and journalists in upcoming weeks, hoping to reassure Democrats rattled by his dismal debate performance last week, according to two people involved in the planning. The events could include a mix of a town hall with voters, one-on-one national interviews with prominent Washington journalists or a solo press conference where Biden would field multiple questions, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Hunter Biden sues Fox News over 'mock trial' miniseries

U.S. President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden sued conservative news outlet Fox News on Monday for publishing nude photos and videos of him in a fictionalized "mock trial" show focused on his foreign business dealings. Hunter Biden alleges Fox violated New York state's so-called revenge porn law, which makes it illegal to publish intimate images of a person without their consent. He is also suing for unjust enrichment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Nebraska shooting that wounded 7 immigrants may be racially motivated, police say

A shooting on Friday in Crete, Nebraska, that wounded seven Guatemalan immigrants, including four children, may have been racially motivated, police said, adding that the suspect later killed himself. The suspect identified by police as Billy Booth opened fire from his house in Crete with a shotgun on Friday afternoon.

US Supreme Court finds Trump has broad immunity from prosecution

The U.S. Supreme Court found on Monday that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president in a landmark ruling recognizing for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution. The justices, in a 6-3 ruling authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, threw out a lower court's decision that had rejected Trump's claim of immunity from federal criminal charges involving his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. The six conservative justices were in the majority, while its three liberal members dissented.

US Supreme Court liberals lament ruling making the president 'a king above the law'

The president of the United States has been elevated to the status of "a king above the law." The occupant of the White House may order assassinations of political rivals without fear of prosecution. America's leader may now be insulated from criminal consequences for whatever he or she wants to do in office. That is what U.S. Supreme Court liberals said in dissent to Monday's landmark decision recognizing for the first time broad immunity from prosecution for former presidents.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)