This ruling was an inevitability. No matter how strong the case, they weren’t going to kick Trump off the ballot. Even if the Court didn’t have a conservative majority, the Court generally doesn’t like being seen as political. This is a polarizing case that asks them to choose between the election proceeding as usual, or being the ones responsible for disqualifying Trump. They may be willing to dive head first into polarizing issues of their choosing, but this wasn’t something they wanted, it was something that they could reasonably ignore. So, forced into ruling on this case, they voted 9-0 to take the easy way out and make an excuse.
The question of total presidential immunity to all prosecution doesn’t cause quite the same problem. Hell, they don’t even need to rule on presidential immunity, they can just rule that there’s no immunity for ex-presidents. It’s the obviously correct answer, and it isn’t really changing the status quo. Ruling that current and former presidents have total immunity would put the Court in a much worse position, setting a massive game changing precedent and bailing Trump out in a way that looks corrupt. This seems especially implausible given the way the lower courts have explored this issue. A ruling in favor of Trump has very clearly been established to be a ruling that gives presidents a license to kill. I would honestly be surprised if we don’t get a 9-0 decision against Trump whenever they get around to deciding the case.
This ruling was an inevitability. No matter how strong the case, they weren’t going to kick Trump off the ballot. Even if the Court didn’t have a conservative majority, the Court generally doesn’t like being seen as political. This is a polarizing case that asks them to choose between the election proceeding as usual, or being the ones responsible for disqualifying Trump. They may be willing to dive head first into polarizing issues of their choosing, but this wasn’t something they wanted, it was something that they could reasonably ignore. So, forced into ruling on this case, they voted 9-0 to take the easy way out and make an excuse.
The question of total presidential immunity to all prosecution doesn’t cause quite the same problem. Hell, they don’t even need to rule on presidential immunity, they can just rule that there’s no immunity for ex-presidents. It’s the obviously correct answer, and it isn’t really changing the status quo. Ruling that current and former presidents have total immunity would put the Court in a much worse position, setting a massive game changing precedent and bailing Trump out in a way that looks corrupt. This seems especially implausible given the way the lower courts have explored this issue. A ruling in favor of Trump has very clearly been established to be a ruling that gives presidents a license to kill. I would honestly be surprised if we don’t get a 9-0 decision against Trump whenever they get around to deciding the case.