T HE SUPREME COURT decided just 55 fully argued or “merits” cases in the term that ended on June 27th—the lowest total since the civil war, except for the covid-curtailed term of 2020. Yet the justices have been busier than ever.

One year ago today, the Supreme Court gave Donald Trump the legal victory of a lifetime. In a 6-3 decision whose consequences continue to reverberate today, the six Republican appointees on the court ruled that Trump was entitled to criminal immunity in connection with the Justice Department’s prosecution of the then-former president over his effort to overturn the 2020 election.

The Supreme Court 'could have simply decided that the 14th Amendment's clear mandate that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States" meant exactly what it said,