I’ll be perfectly happy with a lawfully obtained sentence imposed based on the statutory guidelines for however many counts of Obstruction with which Trump is charged. E.g., if charged with 5 counts, served consecutively, that’s 100 years.
Oh, heck, let’s be generous and let him serve those counts concurrently: 20 years.
He will not be under “house arrest.” That’s for when a case is pending, prior to conviction and sentencing. After sentencing, he’ll be housed in a SHU, which stands for Special Housing Unit. Every major prison has one. They consist of very secure separate cells in an administrative segregated (Ad Seg) area of the prison. No internet access. Limited visitors. No contact with other inmates.
Pity the Secret Service agents assigned to that detail.
I was about to post this to the other thread and trying to come up with something that didn’t conintue the hijack, so thank you for creating this one. (posted before reading this whole thread)
This is what I’ve been imagining. Trump is convicted and sent to prison, but his sentence is carried out at a freshly converted Mar-a-Lago–the newest and greatest Club Fed ever of all time, privately owned and operated by The Trump Organization.
I’d imagine he would be allowed to travel more than your typical white collar criminal, but it would at least be cool if he had to wear an ankle bracelet or something.
I am not sure that would ban him from running for president. The constitution spells out the requirements to run for president and I doubt the supreme court would let a criminal court ban someone from the office.
Then export him, to our (Canada’s) arctic to assist in some sort of development work.
But seriously, house arrest in Mar a Lago is probably the most realistic and reasonable option, though it would be great if he was restricted to some small section of building and grounds, with the rest of the compound occupied by staff
Technically though, isn’t deportation something that sends someone to their original country (eg an immigrant from Russia to the US or Canada can only be deported back to Russia)?
I agree that a criminal court could not declare him “ineligible” to serve in federal office. However, there have been politicians in the past who have been convicted of crimes and – as a part of their plea bargain – agreed not to run for office again. I believe the way it works is some component of their sentence is suspended contingent on them sticking to the agreement. If they do run for office, the full sentence would then be applied.
So not barred from office but may end up having to run their campaign from a federal prison.
You’re right, the statute for improper removal of federal documents includes a provision that someone convicted under the law must forfeit office “and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.” So his conviction could well include that provision, I stand corrected.
However, I think it’s very likely that it would be unconstitutional for that provision to bar Trump from the Presidency. As @Whack-a-Mole states, the Constitution defines the requirements for being President or a Member of Congress, and they cannot be changed or added to through statute.
The Constitution is not a suicide pact, and any arguments that a person convicted of these statutes, including espionage, can still be elected President, while fun in theory and on message boards, won’t go further than that.
You might as well do a Constitutional Convention at that point because, frankly, if that does happen, this country isn’t worth saving in any form.