Are there any laws specifically forbidding a currently indicted person from running/becoming POTUS? If not, would the court case have to be put on hold if he’s elected or, since it was already on the books, would he still have to go to trial?
Here are the laws governing who may become President:
US Constitution Article 2 Section 1:
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
US Constitution, 22nd Amendment, Section 1:
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once.
So yes, a currently indicted person could still run. In fact, a convicted felon in prison could run.
Each state has it’s own laws regarding being placed on the ballot. It’s not just a matter of filling out a form. Usually it requires signatures on petitions and Trump could certainly find enough of his fans who know how to write their name to do that. Other requirements may be more difficult in some states but can also be challenged in court if they unreasonably prevent a constitutionally qualified candidate from running. Don’t know it that has ever worked though.
He could certainly manage to run though. As noted above if elected he can serve, the bar is pretty low.
In fact, a convicted felon has run for President in the past. Eugene V. Debs was incarcerated in 1920 when he ran for President on the Socialist Party ticket.
The courts tend to take a pretty dim view of states attempting to limit ballot access beyond things like reasonable signature requirements and filing fees. California passed a law in 2019 denying ballot access to presidential and gubernatorial candidates who refuse to release their tax returns, clearly aimed at Trump. Enforcement was enjoined in federal court and the legislation was unanimously overturned by the California state supreme court.
Also, Lyndon LaRouche ran for president in 1992 while he was in prison for mail fraud.
Someone ran for president (in the 2012 Democratic primary, against Barack Obama) from prison in West Virginia.
Of course, it’s difficult to win in prison. How do you do press conferences? Wouldn’t social media be difficult and awkward? How do you hold staff meetings? And so forth.
He could quite literally run for President while in prison.
I was thinking the opposite; what restrictions does the court place on someone that would make it difficult to campaign effectively? If someone is out on bond while awaiting trial, can they travel outside the jurisdiction of the court? Can he solicit donations and associate with possible co-defendants or witnesses? Can he be prohibited from talking about the case as a condition of bail?
There might not be a law specifically preventing Trump from running for president, but what kind of campaign could he undertake while out on bail?
That could be a big one that interferes with the campaign but the country is well connected electronically now, Trump could appear online and on video from anywhere.
Lyndon LaRouche managed to run for president while serving time and later after a long list of scandalous behavior still managed to get enough votes to earn delegates in the Democratic primaries. And that was way back in the 20th century.
If he won the Presidency while in prison, would they have to release him?
There’s nothing in the Constitution that requires that an individual incarcerated in state or federal prison be released upon being elected President. Obviously the situation has never come up. Trump could probably bring suit arguing that his continued incarceration inhibits his ability to execute his duties as President and request that his sentence be suspended during his term. Impossible to say how the courts would rule.
There is no barrier to taking the oath of office during a visit.
If in federal prison, the President would pardon himself.
If in New York State prison, the governor of New York would be in a tough position. Respect for democracy would argue for letting the President out.
Why would respect for democracy mean giving a convicted felon the keys to the candy store?
He would have full presidential power despite being located in his cell, so I don’t know what candy store you mean. If mafia dons could, with difficulty, wage gang war from behind bars, I don’t see why an elected President can’t do it, and more easily because there is no law against it.
Beyond that, I think his having won the election is a strong indication that the public doesn’t like how the state is treating him (I say state because he would self-pardon if in federal detention).
It is an interesting question, but going back to McCulloch v. Maryland, if it violates the idea of federal supremacy for a state to simply tax federal banknotes, I would think that the same principle applies triply to a state incarcerating a person lawfully elected to be the POTUS. Surely the state would have to release him/her so that person could conduct his/her federal duties.
And I’m convinced that he’d still get at least 30 million votes. Beyond pathetic.
Isn’t there a difference between not levying a tax, and saying that a federal officer is completely immune from the law?
And if it works for the President, why not other elected federal officers, like Reps and Senators? Why should the states have any power to keep them from carrying out their federal duties?
If the Prez intentionally and with malice aforethought shoots someone dead in front of the tv cameras, in a death penalty state, is he immune from a prosecution?
Does the federal principle mean that state laws just don’t apply? I would have thought that negates the federal principle of co-sovereign states and federal government.
But he’d keep bumping into the bars.
It wouldn’t have to be a visit. Notary publics can administer an oath (Calvin Coolidge was sworn in by his father, a notary public, when Warren Harding died). And prisons will arrange notary public service for prisoners as part of their access to the legal system.