On April 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguments for and against former and perhaps future president Donald J. Trump's motion that he has absolute immunity from prosecution in the Washington, D.C., indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Trump stands accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to deny the right to vote, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and obstruction of an official proceeding in relation to the events of January 6, 2021.

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed Trump's original motion last December 1. On February 6, a panel of federal Circuit Court of Appeals judges upheld her dismissal. Chutkan was appointed by former president Barack Obama, to whose 2008 presidential campaign she donated. Two of the three Appeals Court judges were appointed by President Joe Biden, one of whom was shortlisted for the Supreme Court seat now held by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

A favorable ruling by the Supreme Court, whose acceptance of Trump's appeal indicates that it may have merit, could dismiss the former president's indictment in Washington and have positive implications for him in other criminal cases and, possibly, in related civil matters.

Trump's legal theory holds that potentially illegal actions committed by a president while in office are not subject to ordinary criminal prosecution. Drawing from English common law, the U.S.........

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