Common Duty

Two hundred years ago, a great jurist of our Court established that no citizen, not even the President, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding.  We reaffirm that principle today and hold that the President is neither absolutely immune from state criminal subpoenas seeking his private papers nor entitled to a heightened standard of need.  The "guard[] furnished to this high officer" lies where it always has -- in "the conduct of a court" applying established legal and constitutional principles to individual subpoenas in a manner that preserves both the independence of the Executive and the integrity of the criminal justice system.

-- Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority in Trump v Vance, ruling that a New York district attorney's subpoena of President Trump's financial records is valid, 9 July 2020