Justice's dissent: 'The president is now a king above the law'

Three justices have issued a blistering dissent to the US Supreme Court opinion granting Donald Trump partial immunity from prosecution, warning that it will allow presidential power to be used "for evil ends".

The 6-3 historic decision effectively strips out key parts of an indictment against the former president for allegedly conspiring to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Six conservative-leaning justices signed the majority opinion, but the three liberals dissented, expressing "fear for our democracy".

President Joe Biden similarly warned of a "dangerous precedent", while one legal expert said this was not simply a case of "fear-mongering". Leading the liberals, Justice Sonia Sotomayor outlined hypothetical situations where the concept of immunity could apply.

"Orders the Navy's Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival?" she wrote. "Immune." "Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune."

"Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done," Justice Sotomayor wrote. "In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law."