Opinion: Congress should not shield Trump from civil lawsuits

To the editor: In contending that Donald Trump should be shielded from civil litigation while serving as president, law professor Saikrishna Prakash does a bad job concealing his bias. (“How to keep Trump focused on our business and not his 75 pending lawsuits,” Opinion, Nov. 14)

While he concedes that justice delayed may be justice denied, he cites the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act — which temporarily exempts military personnel from litigation that may “adversely effect” them — to support a law that would free a sitting president from civil suits.

But service members don’t get a litigation pass for their entire military career; invariably it’s only for the duration of deployment, which seldom if ever approaches 18 months.

His pitch for non-partisan “symmetry” falls flat too. A law preventing Trump from filing suit while in office would benefit him; how better to save face for not immediately filing lawsuits he pompously promised to pursue against his harassment accusers?

It’s fine for Prakash to posit that “we simply cannot afford to have a president bogged down in lawsuit after lawsuit.” But then he should have given voters something to think about before casting ballots: Any candidate with an overly litigious history should not be president.

Edward Alston, Santa Maria

The writer is a lawyer and a retired member of the military’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

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To the editor: I do not agree that Trump should be kept out of court. He should have thought of the responsibility of addressing the dozens of claims pending against him before running for office.

No one should be above the law or evade his responsibilities to those who need resolution in business or other civil case situations. Some of the suits could very well involve businesses and people who will face financial difficulties or even ruin if their civil cases are not heard in a timely manner.

If we really want change in Washington, let’s demand responsible political leaders who live up to their obligations in their personal and professional lives.

Barbara Snider, Huntington Beach

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