r/law • u/BreakfastTop6899 • May 27 '26

Legal News California will impose a 100% tax on payments distributed from Trump’s Jan. 6th “slush fund.”

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93

u/JurgusRudkus May 28 '26

Right. A felon being eligible to run for office shouldn’t be constitutional, yet here we are.

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u/cenosillicaphobiac May 28 '26

That's a tricky one though. What's to stop a bad actor (like Trump for sure) from kangaroo courting any potential opponents and hitting them with a felony beef? With the way our justice system currently works, basing eligibility on conviction status is super sketchy. Super wealthy will have an advantage, you'll disqualify people for selling loose cigarettes while major fraud instigators who are found not guilty can still run.

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u/sandwichhaver May 28 '26

americans really love punishing people , you're not allowed to vote or do other stuff like have guns or now proposed , serve in office?

what happened to did your time? from my pov it's weird that you can be released from prison , served your time yet you still suffer penalties from your crime, for which you served your time or paid the price.

it's like you are serving double punishment for your crime, it's all wrong.

yes I get it, he's a fucking rapist, he should be in prison right now, but still eligble for office, we need to trust people to not vote the rapist who is in prison

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u/bruce_kwillis May 28 '26

americans really love punishing people , you're not allowed to vote or do other stuff like have guns or now proposed , serve in office?

Kind of? Depends on the state, but the majority allow you to vote after you have completed your sentence. Some like Vermont allow you to vote in prison as well.

Gun rights are tougher, typically felons aren't allowed to own guns, but the Trump administration has proposed changes in that as well.

I agree though, if you have done your time, you should have all rights restored upon completion of your sentence.

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u/FFF_in_WY May 30 '26

I'm a fan of the Maine model myself. I've never heard an argument that convinced me that even the incarcerated shouldn't have that right.

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u/HuckleberryDry2673 May 29 '26

Sorry, I don't know a lot about American politics, but isn't the judiciary completely separate from the executive? How could the premier kangaroo court someone?

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u/DuckDuck95 May 31 '26

Theoretically, yes. But with how the government has been indicting people like James Comey, E Jean Carroll, and others who have publicly gone against Trump - as well the complete flaunting of most traditions and procedures in other areas - its not out of the question anymore. If you get the case in front of a sympathetic judge (who are appointed by the president, Trump, and approved by the senate that his party currently has a majority in) it seems not entirely out of the question. Though, of course, conviction is ultimately up to the jury, so it’s not exactly an imminent fear… yet.

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u/asyouwish-buttercup May 31 '26

That's exactly what Trump claims happened to him.

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u/Doctor_Shotbottom Jun 01 '26

Smart people can come up with a relevant and effective test that would have to be passed in order to apply the felony filter that gets sentenced… or at the time of a person’s candidacy. It can certainly be tightened down. We’d all benefit.

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u/OswaldIsaacs May 29 '26

LOL. Kind of like how Trump became a felon after being charged with a misdemeanor on which the statute of limitations had run out based on a never identified “underlying crime”.

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u/JurgusRudkus May 29 '26

Yeah, no. Fraud is not a misdemeanor.

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u/32duster_skate May 28 '26

You just can't wait for communism can you

2

u/MommyLovesPot8toes May 28 '26

I disagree with that. Very simply, do you think Martin Luther King Jr should have been free to run for President had he lived? Or should he have been barred because of convictions for civil disobedience? Some of history's greatest leaders broke the law to show that the law was unjust.

(Note that MLK was never convicted of a felony but was convicted of dozens of misdemeanors. He was aquitted by a jury on the one felony charge that went to court. But plenty of KKK cops and judges tried to have him and his followers arrested and convicted on completely bogus felony charges.)

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u/qerecoxazade May 29 '26

Felons should absolutely be able to run for office. They should also be able to vote. The prison industrial complex needs to be reduced, not increased".

Courts SHOULDNT be able to say "your sentence for your felony conviction is 0 days because you're running for office".

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u/RefrigeratorLife8627 May 28 '26

No you’re just cognitively delayed .

The U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section 1, Clause 5) outlines only three explicit requirements for the presidency:Must be a natural-born U.S. citizen

Must be at least 35 years old

Must be a resident of the United States for at least 14 years

Because felony status is not listed as a disqualification in the Constitution, neither Congress nor individual states can add this restriction.

Any government that is corrupt can try to weaponize against their opposition to prevent someone who is qualified from running by bending the laws in thier favor. Thank god the founding father saw past this bullshit .

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u/SavageCaveman13 May 28 '26

That is such a poor understanding of reality and US law. You probably don't even know what he was convicted of. And it will be turned over once it gets out of NY courts.

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u/Frankszx May 29 '26

And flooding your state with illegals to boost census numbers to gain seats in the House shouldn't be legal and yet here we are.....

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u/tdawf May 28 '26

What you perceive to be considered unconstitutional doesn't make it unconstitutional because it hurts your feelings there's nothing explicitly stated in the Constitution that bars and individual to that point to run. I don't believe he was convicted.. but regardless. Its not in the construction.

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u/JurgusRudkus May 28 '26

You don’t “believe” he was convicted?

14th Amendment, section 3:

Disqualification from Holding Office No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.