Trump has been a convicted felon ever since he was convicted. Today he became a sentenced convicted felon.
There are a few sanctions.
He cannot legally own a gun.
While he can vote in (if a resident) in New York and Florida, he is limited in what states he can live in should he want to continue to vote.
While enforcement of criminal registration laws has become lax, that requirement is still on the books in Florida:
Registration as a Convicted Felon
When I grew up in New Jersey, there were “criminal registration required” signs at entry points to our town. But don’t take this seriously. Trump is above the law.
America is a failed democracy bordering on an outright failed state. One person cannot change that.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ~ Someone or No one
Are they limited to just those 2 options?(not hearing, or upholding).
Does the Supreme Court have authority to do something more: --to vacate a verdict? Like annulling a marriage or something similar.
Can they declare that the lower court made a mistake , and therefor Trump is no longer a felon?
And thus Trump is free to sue for defamation anyone, anywhere, who calls him a felon.
I could kind of taken solace in knowing that he spent the rest of his life knowing the day his presidency ends, he’s facing jail or even a nominal fine. It would gall him no end and consume his every waking thought.
They can decline to take the case, or take the case and uphold the verdict or overturn it. So, three options. Four justices are enough to take the case, and five are required to overturn the lower courts. To overturn it, they would need (in theory) a federal (usually constitutional) basis. The state law issues are the province of the state courts.
…to the point that 100% of his focus over the next four years would be finding a way to stay in power after his term ends.
No thanks.
There is that, yes, but I figure the odds are low he’ll survive the next four years.
You may well be right, but I have a suspicion that Trump believes that he’ll live for many years to come. He’s too amazing and perfect (in his own mind) not to.
They might as well just reverse his conviction. There’s no effective difference. I’m fact that should be Trump’s main argument when he appeals.
Thus the look of utter astonishment on his face the mortician is unable to remove.
Does Trump being a convicted felon mean other felons will be less likely to associate with him? How many people with felonies on their record would rather not risk jail time by associating with him. Especially when many of them know he’ll happily throw them right back under the bus if need be.
Is it possibly Merchan had that in mind? That is, make sure Trump’s officially a felon and start picking off people that break their parole/probation conditions by associating with him.
No matter what Merchan does, he’s already permanently on Trump’s enemies list. Trump is already planning on doing everything he can to ruin Merchan’s life. If he’s going to be facing that, then he might as well do the right thing.
And then probably book a flight for a democracy, on the day before inauguration.
I think it’s easy to volunteer someone else’s spouse and children for awful treatment. I won’t do it.
ETA: It’s worth remembering that Trump’s reach now extends far beyond our borders and shores. With friends like Putin, Merchan and others may well hope to minimize the blow back. As I previously said, I think he did all he could within the constraints of what we as a society have done by putting this maniac back into the Oval Office.
What was he gonna do- go outside normal sentencing for a case like this? Prison time? That would have just been slapped down by SCOTUS. Normally, it would have been a suspended sentence and a fine. No hard time.
So where’s the fine?
Imposing conditions of sentence such as a fine requires assigning a probation officer to oversee compliance.
Which probation officer would you do that to? To collect, what, a $100,000 fine that Trump can flick away like flea shit?
Right.
Look, no jail times was expected from this indictment anyway.
What was the point though? If they knew that in the end there would be zero consequences then they should have simply not brought charges.
In the end the only thing damaged was the justice system itself.