Justice Sotomayor somberly places death of democracy at feet of Supreme Court if justices rule in Trump’s favor

U.S. President Donald Trump and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Feb. 28. 2017, when Trump addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, left, exchanges words with President Donald Trump, right, on Feb. 28,. 2017, when Trump addressed a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

It was a profound exchange.

On Thursday, as justices of the U.S. Supreme Court heard extensive oral arguments over whether Donald Trump, as a former president, is totally immune from criminal prosecution for actions taken while he was in office, it began with a series of questions to special counsel attorney Michael Dreeben from Justice Samuel Alito.

Alito, more than an hour into proceedings, started to press Dreeben about whether the prosecution of a president would undermine the stability of a country’s governance. It would seem easily agreeable, the justice argued, that a “stable, democratic society” required a defeated candidate to leave office peacefully if he lost an election.

“Even a close one,” Alito said. “Even a hotly contested one.”

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