Northern Neck Times

Can Presidents Be Prosecuted or Sued? Professor Explains Differing Visions of Immunity

With two U.S. presidents now facing special counsel investigations and one facing legal jeopardy on a host of other matters, questions over how and when a president might face legal action are swirling.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland recently appointed a special counsel to investigate President Joseph Biden and his administration’s handling of classified documents, months after beginning a similar investigation into former President Donald Trump’s storage of classified files at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. Trump is also facing criminal investigations and civil litigation involving his actions on Jan. 6, his tax and business activities, alleged election interference and more.

Lacking clear constitutional guidance, ideas about presidential immunity have evolved from the nation’s founding to today, and in some cases remain unsettled, says Saikrishna B. Prakash, a University of Virginia School of Law professor and expert on presidential power.

Prakash’s paper, “Prosecuting and Punishing Our Presidents,” was published in the Texas Law Review in 2021. In the article, he argues that although the Constitution confers no immunity from prosecution and civil suits upon presidents and former presidents, Congress might bestow such privileges and immunities.

Prakash, the James Monroe Distinguished Professor of Law and the Albert Clark Tate Jr. Professor of Law, is a senior fellow of UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs. He is the author of the books “The Living Presidency: An Originalist Argument Against Its Ever-Expanding Powers” and “Imperial from the Beginning: The Constitution of the Original Executive.”

He recently discussed his research and answered questions about current and past legal challenges facing U.S. presidents.

Original source can be found here