In a controversial decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has made a ruling on the request to block Judge Juan Merchan from sentencing President-elect Trump in his New York criminal case. The Supreme Court has refused to block the request from Trump. This comes after a New York appeals court earlier this week denied Trump’s request to delay the sentencing, scheduled for Friday morning.
Five justices on the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s emergency application to postpone sentencing. Notably, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court’s liberal justices, tipping the balance against Trump’s request. The four conservative justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh—voted in favor of granting Trump’s request to delay sentencing.
According to CBS News, the majority opinion stated that Trump’s concerns over evidentiary issues “can be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal.” The court also noted that the trial judge has already indicated that Trump will not face any jail time, writing that “the burden that sentencing will impose on the President-Elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing.”
Trump had appealed to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking intervention to halt the sentencing. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who oversees emergency applications from New York, requested a response by Thursday morning. Prosecutors responded swiftly, urging the Supreme Court to allow the sentencing to proceed as planned.
This ruling clears the way for Judge Merchan to formally sentence Trump in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s controversial case involving alleged hush money payments. In May, a jury convicted Trump on all 34 felony counts related to falsifying business records. The charges stemmed from accusations that Trump, through his former attorney Michael Cohen, paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to silence claims of an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election.
Despite the politically charged nature of the case, Judge Merchan has signaled that Trump will not receive prison time. Instead, Trump will likely be sentenced to an “unconditional discharge,” meaning no punishment will be imposed. Trump will also be allowed to attend the sentencing virtually.
Many conservatives have criticized the case as a politically motivated attack designed to damage Trump ahead of his second term. With the Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene, Judge Merchan’s sentencing will proceed, marking yet another chapter in the ongoing legal and political battles surrounding President-elect Trump.