SUMMARY

The Supreme Court heard debate over one of its most consequential cases, whether a former president is immune from prosecution for actions taken while in office. Arguments were heard on an appeal brought by former President Donald Trump, who’s being prosecuted for attempting to overthrow the results of the 2020 election.

View the transcript of the story.

Timestamps

Start to 1:00: Introduction to the Supreme Court case and context of Donald Trump's criminal liability

1:00 to 5:52: An explanation of the major arguments in the case

5:52 to end: Analysts offers interpretation of arguments and speculates about possible ruling

News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1. What essential question did this Supreme Court hearing consider?
2. Who has brought the charges against Donald Trump that are being considered in this Supreme Court hearing?
3. Why does Trump's legal team argue that he should be immune from criminal prosecution for actions he took while president?
4. How would granting Trump immunity corrupt the justice system, according to attorneys for the justice department?
5. When was Trump's trial for these charges originally supposed to take place?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

1. Do you think presidents should be immune from criminal prosecution for actions they take while president?
2. Do you think the court might make a distinction between "official acts" of a presidency and personal actions while president? If so, how do you think the court could determine whether or not a potentially criminal action counts as an official act or not?

Media literacy: Where do you think you could go to find out what historic examples might help inform the nine Supreme Court justices' decisions in this case?

Alternative: See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you like to learn more about?

FOR MORE

The hearing is available in the video link below. Listen as a class to the opening statements and discuss — what strategies are Trump's lawyers and government lawyers using to persuade the justices of the court? Do you think a different strategy might be more effective?

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