Judge Juan Merchan’s path is now clear for sentencing.
The US Supreme Court has refused President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay the sentencing for his New York felony convictions. As such, the sentencing hearing will go on as scheduled. The Court ruled 5-4 against the president-elect. The majority included Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Amy Coney Barrett, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh, dissented but didn’t go into the reasons.
In an unsigned order, the majority explained that “the burden that sentencing will impose on the president-elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial” since he isn’t facing jail time, and that he could still challenge the conviction itself “in the ordinary course on…
