To avoid a political argument lets say I wanted to reanimate Groover Cleveland, get him reelected, and spit on him.
What’s the worst that could happen, based on past spittings what is likely to happen, and would any recent laws change the outcome?
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As far as I know, U.S. federal law does not treat defamation of the President as a crime on its own (unlike some other jurisdictions, which have provisions that can be considered to be “successors” to the old crime of lèse majesté, defamation of the monarch). That is not to say that spitting at the President cannot be considered as libel, which may result in liability to pay damages but might also be a crime in some states.
Defamation? Libel?
Try assault and battery.
Yep- it’s battery.
I don’t know about the president, but I do know that in prisons, inmates can be charged with assault if they spit on or throw any other bodily fluids on a staff member. Not that it stops them. . .
This example is ridiculously implausible. Cleveland already served two terms and would be inelegible for re-election. I guess that if you could suspend your disbelief enough for this to happen, you would be guilty of assault so pretty much the same as if you punched him.
I think “Groover Cleveland” was groovy.
Spitting on anyone, President or otherwise, is an assault. And one that, in the hypothetical provided here, the Secret Service would not take kindly.
Why assault and not battery? (I thought the distinction was contact vs. apprehension of contact).
You might not want to do that.
Whatever the penalty is for spitting on the President, it’s twice as harsh for spitting on Grover Cleveland.
Sailboat
It would just be battery I believe if all you did was spit.
Don’t treat those terms as if they are universal. Each state’s criminal code has different definitions. For instance in NJ there is no “assault and battery”. There is aggravated assault and simple assault. I have no idea what the federal code is.
Of course I did not use NJ as an example because it is the only criminal code I have any knowledge of. It is because I am assuming that is where the crime will take place.
But since he died and was reanimated does that make him eligible for two more terms?
more seriously, I would say it would be considered assault.
Presidential term limits were not in place then.
I would call spitting on the president battery, same as for spitting on anyone else. Flipping him the bird would be more fun and legal.
I shall correct myself. The limit on terms on presidents only excluded the current president, Harry Truman. Presumably a reanimated Grover Cleveland would not be eligible for reelection, nor would Abe Lincoln. If we bring back Harry Truman, then he could run as much as he wants.
I’d vote for Zombie Truman.
Plus, he’s fucked things up enough already what with being the 22nd and 24th President. Then he’d be the 22nd, 24th and 44th or whatever. The whole thing is just a terrible idea.
What’s the penalty for puking on a prime minister?
Watching your son take your job for 8 years.
If you happen to suffer from any type of deadly disease that can be transmitted by bodily fluids (for example, AIDS, Hepatitis, tuberculosis, etc.), you would probably be charged with the more serious crime of “assault with a deadly weapon”. (Or whatever the equivalent is in the statutes of the state where it occurs.)
That has been done in some cases where a prisoner with AIDS spit on a prison guard. Here’s a cite from Minnesota in 1987 (26 years ago) where an inmate who bit 2 guards was charged and convicted, even though the guards did not come down with AIDS, and medical evidence shows no recorded case of AIDS being transmitted via saliva. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9B0DE3DE1238F936A15755C0A961948260
There is a bill in the Vermont legislature to create a specific crime “Assault with bodily fluids”.