# Can a felon--after having served his sentence or not--serve as President? Or even run for office? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688 "2016-01-20T17:41:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/1 "2016-01-20T17:41:15Z")
Wasn’t Mayor Berry of Washington DC re-elected after his crack conviction? Is there a level at which you can’t serve, eg governor, President? Perhaps anything at state level and below is local law–but Federal? Part of the question is also rather than running for office and being elected, and serving, but simply running: the voters could write in whoever they want, right? Also, _legally_, is there a cut-off point for the severity of the offense for running? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/2 "2016-01-20T17:44:58Z")
I don’t think there’s anything in the Constitution preventing it. I’m pretty sure this has been tested already for congressional seats with Ted Stevens, and that guy from Ohio(?). ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/3 "2016-01-20T17:51:20Z")
Eugene Debs ran a campaign from Prison in 1920 > [@](#): > > Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs received 913,664 popular votes (3.4%), despite the fact that he was in prison at the time for advocating non-compliance with the draft during World War I. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/4 "2016-01-20T17:55:15Z")
Wow. The prison candidate was something I thought was only a hyperbolic fantasy, and I originally had that in OP! I figured that actually sitting in prison prevents you from “faithfully carrying out the duties…” etc. So it’s up the Supremes, or the Chief Justice at the swearing-in (in absentia?) to say “nope, not gonna do it”? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/5 "2016-01-20T17:57:05Z")
At the federal level, there is no bar. States vary and some states prohibit felons from running for certain elected offices (Texas and Illinois for example). Which state are you curious about? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/6 "2016-01-20T17:58:35Z")
US President. And other federal (Congress, etc.) and states as appropriate or interesting in relation. ETA: “Federal” of course includes Cabinet members, regulators. Also Federal judges, but even hyperbole has to leave them out. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/7 "2016-01-20T18:05:30Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > US President. And other federal (Congress, etc.) and states as appropriate or interesting in relation. US President isn’t one thing. There are 51 elections and 51 sets of ballot access laws. The only federal requirements are in the constitution and you know those already: 35 years old, a natural-born citizen, and not term-limited. There is no federal impediment to felons serving in Congress, but several states (as pointed out above) do not allow felons ballot access. The Senate is unlikely to approve a felon for a Cabinet post, but they could if they wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/8 "2016-01-20T18:07:38Z")
The only requirements to be President are that you’re 35 years old (or will be as of when you would assume office), you’ve lived for 14 years in the US, you’re a natural-born citizen, you can’t have previously taken an oath to the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion, and you can’t have already been elected President twice or elected once and served more than two years of a term to which you succeeded. Oh, and of course the biggest one: You have to actually get elected. No other restriction on eligibility for the Presidency would be Constitutional, unless it were enacted via amendment to the Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/9 "2016-01-20T18:14:38Z")
:smack: Just thought of a well-known (even to me) expression: “high crimes and misdemeanors.” But wait…A President can be tried and convicted of cannibalism by the Congress, but he’s President unless he’s impeached and removed…but President Clinton was impeached, and stayed in office…I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/10 "2016-01-20T18:18:54Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > :smack: Just thought of a well-known (even to me) expression: “high crimes and misdemeanors.” > > But wait…A President can be tried and convicted of cannibalism by the Congress, but he’s President unless he’s impeached and removed…but President Clinton was impeached, and stayed in office…I’m confused. the high crimes and misdemeanors are impeachable if committed while in office, not before. I’m not understanding your second point. _Impeachment_ is the accusation, then a “trial” by the Senate to decide if he or she gets removed from office. ---
**Author:** ![Bonaventure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@Bonaventure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonaventure)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/11 "2016-01-20T18:19:27Z")
Prison campaigns for President are not a fantasy. I remember Lyndon LaRouche running for President almost every election cycle from prison. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/12 "2016-01-20T18:20:52Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > But wait…A President can be tried and convicted of cannibalism by the Congress, but he’s President unless he’s impeached and removed…but President Clinton was impeached, and stayed in office…I’m confused. President Clinton was impeached (accused) but acquitted at his trial in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/13 "2016-01-20T18:21:14Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > :smack: Just thought of a well-known (even to me) expression: “high crimes and misdemeanors.” > > But wait…A President can be tried and convicted of cannibalism by the Congress, but he’s President unless he’s impeached and removed…but President Clinton was impeached, and stayed in office…I’m confused. Impeachment is roughly equivalent to indictment – the Articles of Impeachment are a listing of what high crimes and misdemeanors the impeached official allegedly committed. Then comes a trial before the Senate, which declined to find Bill guilty of the alleged offenses. To OP: Matthew Lyon of Vermont was in prison for sedition at the time he ran for reelection to Congress in 1798; he won, and served several additional terms. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/14 "2016-01-20T18:25:01Z")
He was acquitted of the crime. Had he been convicted, would/could he continue to serve until some other Congressional act was completed to get him out of there? If not, it would mean being convicted of a high crime or misdemeanor in office gets you insta-booted, but coming in with one not even having completed a criminal sentence lets you stay? . ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/15 "2016-01-20T18:35:12Z")
Certain crimes prevent holding office such as Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally of government records. 18 U.S. Code § 2071 This implies that if you didn’t break such a law you would still be able to hold office. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/16 "2016-01-20T18:38:38Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > He was acquitted of the crime. Had he been convicted, would/could he continue to serve until some other Congressional act was completed to get him out of there? > > If not, it would mean being convicted of a high crime or misdemeanor in office gets you insta-booted, but coming in with one not even having completed a criminal sentence lets you stay? > . An impeachment conviction would remove him from office. Prior criminal acts are irrelevant. I don’t know what the framers were considering, but if you allowed a criminal conviction to prevent someone from running for office you’re giving a lot of incentive to officeholders to abuse their power to keep political enemies from running in the first place. We have a democratic system where the people decide who they want to represent them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/17 "2016-01-20T18:38:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No other restriction on eligibility for the Presidency would be Constitutional, unless it were enacted via amendment to the Constitution. Eligibility for office, no. But eligibility for ballot access, yes. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/18 "2016-01-20T18:42:52Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > He was acquitted of the crime. Had he been convicted, would/could he continue to serve until some other Congressional act was completed to get him out of there? To be clear, although the Impeachment Clause uses the phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors,” impeachment is a political process, not a criminal one. If a federal official is impeached and convicted in a Senate trial, then the Senate has to decide upon a punishment. That can range from censure to removal from office. But that’s it - the Senate can’t throw you in jail or fine you or anything like that - that’s for the criminal courts to deal with. > [@](#): > > If not, it would mean being convicted of a high crime or misdemeanor in office gets you insta-booted, but coming in with one not even having completed a criminal sentence lets you stay? As above, impeachment offenses and criminal offenses are separate things and not really comparable. And removal from office isn’t a given; ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/19 "2016-01-20T19:40:13Z")
Another example, the Mayor of Boston (Curley) was put in jail for five months. > **[James Michael Curley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Michael_Curley#Second_prison_term)** > > James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874 – November 12, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Boston; from 1914 to 1955, he ran for mayor in every election for which he was legally qualified. He also served a single term as governor of Massachusetts, characterized by one biographer as "a disaster mitigated only by moments of farce" for its free spending and corruption. He is remembered as one of the most colorful figures in Mass ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688/20 "2016-01-20T19:50:24Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I figured that actually sitting in prison prevents you from “faithfully carrying out the duties…” etc. So it’s up the Supremes, or the Chief Justice at the swearing-in (in absentia?) to say “nope, not gonna do it”? Sitting in a wheelchair didn’t prevent Roosevelt from faithfully carrying out the duties. As long as the president can communicate with his people,they in effect carry out his executive orders. Maybe he’d be eligible for work-release. If the chief justice is unable to serve in any capacity for any reason, there is certainly a provision for his duties to be carried out by a pro-tem stand-in. In some states, a convict serving time retains the right to vote with an absentee ballot (Vermont, I think). There are no federal provisions denying rights to incarcerated citizens, but states can and do. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-after-having-served-his-sentence-or-not-serve-as-president-or-even-run-for-office/743688.md?page=2)