70
votes
Accepted
Were people born in the Confederacy eligible to run for president?
Technically, they were born in the United States, at least under US law, and the law of any existing nation. The United States never recognised the Confederacy, nor did any other country. There are ...
- 210k
49
votes
Can the President of the United States pardon proactively?
Yes.
The precedent is President Gerald Ford's pardon of his predecessor Richard Nixon in proclamation 4311 before any possible prosecution had started.
The pardon was granted specifically to prevent ...
- 4,747
46
votes
Can a US President, after impeachment and removal, be re-elected or re-appointed?
Impeachment of a president does not on conviction automatically disqualify the convicted party from becoming president again. However, after conviction, the Senate can vote to add to the punishment ...
- 35.1k
38
votes
Accepted
If the President's power to grant pardons is absolute, could he face any consequences?
There are 2 separate issues here: what happens to such a President and what happens to the person who has been pardoned.
What happens to the person who has been pardoned?
While at least one attempt at ...
- 2,512
38
votes
Accepted
Do US presidential pardons include the cancellation of financial punishments?
Yes
Presidential pardons only deal with breaches of Federal law. So, if the punishment is a fine then that penalty is waived. However, if the fine is punishment for breach of state law, the pardon ...
- 198k
35
votes
Accepted
How can the US president give an order to a civilian?
The executive branch of the US government, or specific parts of it, can demand that a person do particular things, when a statute has authorized such a demand. Such demands are not usually made at the ...
- 113k
34
votes
Accepted
Can a former United States president be criminally prosecuted for acts committed when he was president?
Yes
The rule against prosecuting a sitting President is not a law, it is a Justice Department opinion and policy. The justification for it is that dealing with a criminal case would be severely ...
- 113k
34
votes
Would a Trump-nominated Supreme Court justice be expected to recuse themselves from a Trump case?
No, That Would not be treated as a Conflict of Interest
There is precedent. The four Justices appointed by President Nixon did not recuse themselves on cases involving Nixon, including subpoenas to ...
- 113k
29
votes
Can the President of the United States pardon proactively?
Questionable and Unsettled
First, I am not a lawyer, nor a constitutional scholar. but Ford's pardon of Nixon was never tested in court so there is no precedent here. Some would like to claim that the ...
- 459
27
votes
If the President's power to grant pardons is absolute, could he face any consequences?
Bribery of public officials is in itself a crime (18 USC § 201), for both the giver and the recipient:
(b) Whoever—
(1) directly or indirectly, corruptly gives, offers or promises anything of value ...
- 6,549
25
votes
What happens if Congress declares war, but POTUS refuses to fight it?
If President Trump refuses to execute the war, does that become an act of treason on his part?
Probably not, but it depends on the definition of treason. Congress could decide that it is, impeach ...
- 35.1k
25
votes
Accepted
How are presidential pardons supposed to be used?
When and how are pardons supposed to be used? Why does the Constitution even grant the president the power to pardon?
The Constitution provides very little guidance regarding this point, and it isn'...
- 195k
20
votes
Would a Trump-nominated Supreme Court justice be expected to recuse themselves from a Trump case?
There is no hard law (statutory, constitutional or SCOTUS holding) regarding "conflict of interest" for Supreme Court justices. Justices have typically recused themselves in case of ...
- 210k
19
votes
Accepted
What can happen if the US President has violated campaign finance laws?
Let's start with the most important point first:
A campaign finance violation is not a ground to remove an elected official from office, no matter how egregious, on its own, even if one could prove ...
- 195k
16
votes
How are presidential pardons supposed to be used?
Presidential pardons can be used to pardon someone for any federal crime; if you are convicted of a state crime, the governor of that state has the right to pardon you. Impeachment is the only ...
- 3,964
14
votes
Accepted
Can I legally deny the President of the United States entry into my home?
Yes.
You can deny the President entry to your home unless the President has something that constitutes an exception to that right such as a search warrant. The President does not have any special ...
- 195k
14
votes
Accepted
Can the President of the US pardon everyone?
Yes.
The President can pardon everyone (with the possible exception of himself) of crimes, and can pardon people by category rather than by name.
But, the President can only pardon federal crimes ...
- 195k
14
votes
Accepted
Could the 14th amendment, section 3, keep Trump from holding office for a second term?
I apologize if I'm grossly misinterpreting things here.
You are grossly misinterpreting things here. Your mistakes aren't terribly uncommon, but you are completely and totally wrong in what you are ...
- 195k
14
votes
Accepted
Can a U.S. President's doctor refuse to answer medical-related questions asked by a Congressional committee?
The Fifth Amendment would not apply, because nothing in the testimony would incriminate the doctor. Indeed nothing would be at all likely to incriminate the President either, it is not a crime to be ...
- 113k
13
votes
Accepted
Was it formerly illegal for a woman to be president of the United States?
The language argument about the constitution is that the Constitution uses the pronoun "he" in referring to the president – they would not have used the construction "he or she", or "s/he". Article I ...
- 210k
13
votes
Accepted
Can the Secret Service arrest someone who uses an illegal drug inside of the White House?
The Secret Service is primarily concerned with protecting the people and information they oversee, not enforcing laws.
They have the power to arrest someone for any unlawful conduct, but unless a drug ...
- 2,636
12
votes
Do US presidential pardons include the cancellation of financial punishments?
According to the DoJ,
A commutation may include remission (release) of the financial obligations that are imposed as part of a sentence, such as payment of a fine or restitution. A remission applies ...
- 210k
12
votes
Were people born in the Confederacy eligible to run for president?
The requirement is actually not to be born in the US, but to be a natural born citizen. You can be born outside the US and still be a natural born citizen and thus eligible to be elected President. ...
- 195
11
votes
Accepted
Can the USA military be used as a police force domestically?
The use of the active duty military in a law enforcement role is not unconstitutional but it is prohibited by the posse comitatus act. 18 U.S.C. § 1385 (adopted 1878).
The text of the relevant ...
- 195k
11
votes
Accepted
When is a person legally considered to be "President-elect" in regards to laws against threatening the President?
The US legal code regarding threatening a president is 18 U.S. Code § 871 - Threats against President and successors to the Presidency. The first clause defines how threatening the president is ...
- 1,978
11
votes
Can Trump become the 46th president
There is no law governing the 'number' of the president. Common sense suggests that a person can't be 45th and 46th; there must be someone in between having the presidency and they will become the ...
- 435
10
votes
Accepted
Can the US president be charged of crime such as murder while in office?
Yes. The absence of immunity for a U.S. President's unofficial acts was established both in the Nixon Administration and later in the Clinton Administration.
In practice, a prosecutor would be loath ...
- 195k
10
votes
If Trump can be impeached after leaving office, why couldn't Nixon?
First of all, there is a distinction between being impeached and being convicted. Trump was impeached when the House voted to adopt an Article of Impeachment. That happened while he was still in ...
- 113k
9
votes
Accepted
Can Clinton be pardoned without being charged or convicted?
The canonical example is Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon.
- 210k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible