Wow, that was fast. And a 9 day window to file a response is lightning fast for SCOTUS.
(This was likely done so it could be heard at the January 5 conference, oh the irony if the conference was to be held on January 6. 2024…)
To explain what happened.
Trump appealed a decision by the trial court saying that he was immune from criminal prosecution for acts taken as President as the first remedy for illegal acts by the President is impeachment and conviction by the Senate, and any action that was not subject to conviction by the Senate would not be subject to criminal prosecution.
To prevent further delay, Smith’s prosecutors asked the Supreme Court to step in and take this appeal from the appellate court to speed up the process.
They agreed to be briefed on this and gave TFG’s lawyers 9 days to argue why they should NOT hear the case.
The Court rules stipulate that at least 5 justices agreed to hear this. (4 Justices can agree to hear a case, but 5 have to agree to hear a motion)
So it can go two ways.
1. They meet at Conference on 1/5/2024 and agree to hear the claim of Presidential immunity and finalize this point once and for all
2. They decline to hear it, and send it back down to the Appeals court and make them rule on it, with the caveat that Trump can appeal the appellate court ruling back to SCOTUS.
In any event, which way it will go should probably be known by 1/9/2024 or 1/10/2024.