Kate Shaw in the NYT:
In other words, in the Jan. 6 case brought by the special counsel Jack Smith, as important as what the court decides is when it decides. Slow-walking the case would be tantamount to a ruling for Mr. Trump in one important respect: It would likely eliminate the chances of a pre-election trial and verdict in the most serious of the four criminal cases pending against him — one that is at the heart of and has deep consequences for the integrity of our democracy.
Mr. Trump’s argument — that he is absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for actions taken as president — does not present a difficult question. The court should decisively reject it, as both the trial court and a unanimous appeals court did in this case and as everything in our constitutional tradition demands.
But to date, signs that the court intends to proceed with urgency on this question have been less than encouraging. The court waited two full weeks to act on Mr. Trump’s request that it take up his immunity argument — and then, rather than accepting the special counsel’s proposed timeline, which contemplated a March oral argument date, the court scheduled it for April 25.
The court still has the ability to rule in time to clear the way for a trial. A schedule like the one the court followed in the Colorado case would allow for a decision by mid-May. Assuming a ruling against Mr. Trump, trial court proceedings could resume immediately, with a trial by late summer or early fall….
For Bush v. Gore, the court, faced with federal law’s “safe harbor” deadline for elector certification looming, handed down a decision just one day after the oral argument. In that case, the court observed that the Constitution leaves “the selection of the President to the people” and to the “political sphere,” while noting that the Supreme Court has been sometimes forced to “resolve the federal and constitutional issues the judicial system has been forced to confront.”
In the Trump immunity case, the political clock is no less real because of the existence of additional trial court steps that remain between the court’s decision and the casting of ballots.