The roiling debate over the strength of democratic restraints to keep Donald Trump in check when he returns to the White House in January has put a renewed focus on a divisive US Supreme Court ruling that some fear could enable his worst impulses, CNN observes.

Trump’s sweeping election victory has relit fears on the left of an empowered president pushing the boundaries of his authority — only now with a precedent in hand that grants far-reaching immunity from criminal prosecution.

Taken together, the political and legal alignment will usher Trump into a second term with unprecedented power, CNN says.

“For 250 years, the possibility of criminal prosecution operated as a guard rail on the conduct of our presidents,” said Neil Eggleston, a veteran attorney who served as White House counsel in the Obama administration.

“That guardrail is now gone, and I see few if any others that will constrain President Trump,” CNN quoted her as saying.

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