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- Manlobbi
Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy❤
No. of Recommendations: 1
...Trump is convicted in Georgia?
Firstly, he cannot pardon himself from a state crime. So that's off the table.
It may be unrealistically quick, but suppose he is in a GA prison. What then? I don't think the feds can demand his release if he won the election as that would be overstepping federal authority, would it not? I would think GA would not be under any obligation to release him. Immunity wouldn't apply because the crime -and in this scenario, the punishment- predated his becoming POTUS. But realistically, you can't run an administration from a prison.
There is no precedent, obviously. But I don't think GA could be compelled to release him.
Even stickier, what if he is convicted after becoming POTUS? No pardon, so he has to present himself for incarceration. But how does GA make that happen if Trump doesn't agree? Plus, while the crimes predate, the conviction post-dates, and I don't think there are mechanisms to imprison a sitting POTUS.
The closest I can come up with is the 25th. If the POTUS is unable to carry out his duties (which I think prison would qualify), he is replaced.
Someone needs to draw-up an Amendment that a person serving a prison sentence cannot hold office until he/she is released. Too late this go-round, but clearly our Founders never anticipated this. Hopefully, it will never happen again, but an Amendment would be nice to clarify.
No. of Recommendations: 0
I would think GA would not be under any obligation to release him. Immunity wouldn't apply because the crime -and in this scenario, the punishment- predated his becoming POTUS. But realistically, you can't run an administration from a prison.
There is no precedent, obviously. But I don't think GA could be compelled to release him.
I think it's pretty likely they'd be compelled to release him under the Supremacy Clause.
Imprisoning someone is an exercise of State power - mostly the state Judicial power. It's subject to that Supremacy Clause just like any other exercise of State power. A State legislature can't stop Congress from exercising its Legislative power; they probably can't stop the President from exercising the Executive power. In the event of a conflict, the State loses - State power is subordinate to Federal power.
Since the President can't realistically exercise the Executive function from a prison, he can't be imprisoned by a State. The State won't be allowed to prevent the President from presidenting.
Albaby
No. of Recommendations: 1
Yes, I get that. Federal law becomes state law, whether they like it or not.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/supremacy_clauseClearly, this would be more of a problem if convicted
after winning the election. But what if he's already convicted? (Ignoring the inevitable appeals.) Could not the 25th be invoked, and his VP pick (whomever that is) would then serve? Does not the law apply to everyone, no matter who they are (except diplomats)?
No. of Recommendations: 0
Does not the law apply to everyone, no matter who they are (except diplomats)?
The law does apply to everyone. But all the law. The Supremacy Clause is part of the law, too - and it applies to this particular (weird) scenario just as much as Georgia criminal law.
I think the Constitution would certainly be interpreted that the State of Georgia lacks the power to prevent the President from discharging his office. What that means in this context is a very interesting question - I think the likely outcome is that if he is given a prison sentence, it would not start until after his term of office.
BTW, that is not unheard of. When there are pressing circumstances, you'll see a prison sentence be deferred until some time in the future. For example, if a pair of parents with minor children are both convicted of a crime, one parent might have a reporting date after the other's release so that there's always a parent home for the kids.
