To the editor:

The recent Supreme Court decision in Trump v. United States (the caption really says it all) deserves a swift and helpful Motion for Reconsideration from the government.

The opinion wears its fatal — not to say “lethal” — flaw on its face: It is unclear. The majority of the court concluded (on no textual evidence) that the Constitution permits former presidents to enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution for some unspecified actions that are arguably official and taken pursuant to their “core constitutional” responsibilities while in office. Whether such an action — for example, enriching himself by selling military secrets to our enemies — was in fact one that should enjoy immunity from prosecution is a matter for the courts (read “the Supreme Court, after lengthy appeals”) to decide. So, a corrupt president need only THINK, perhaps mistakenly, that he is free to commit treason in order to do us irreparable harm. Was he? We will sort that out later, long after the damage to national security is done.

The beauty and safety of the earlier D.C. Court of Appeals opinion that, briefly, the president certainly is not above the law, is that it is unambiguous. There is no room for a president to misunderstand his limits. It makes him think twice.

Dan V. Johnson,

Lawrence