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 appeal.”
Trump was found guilty on 34 felony charges in May 2024. Previously, the sentencing had been “delayed indefinitely” after the Supreme Court’s ruling for broad presidential immunity, which raised questions about the case. Once it became clear Trump would be president again, it seemed the case would all but disappear. However, New York Judge Juan Merchan then scheduled it for Friday, January 10 – just ten days before Trump’s second inauguration.
The president-elect’s requests to delay the sentencing were denied both by a mid-level state appellate court and then, on Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals. “Your proposed order to show cause was reviewed by Judge Rivera, who declined to sign the order,” the clerk wrote in the latest filing. “As a result of the judge’s determination, no motion is pending in the above title at the Court of Appeals.”
