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Trump unwittingly is opening many Pandora's boxes as have other recent presidents who have been more intentional. Bush II and his desire to strengthen the executive branches power. And Obama and his reliance on the Executive Order. Those sorts of things makes it easier for a future POTUS with truly evil intentions to seize all control of the government.
Exactly, W. had his unitary executive view; Obama had his over reliance on and use of executive order, and now Trump is pushing the boundaries into unknown territory.
Perhaps the closest we have come to a president openly saying would not honor or enfoce the law, was Andrew Jackson commenting in a letter after the Supreme Court's decision of Worcester v. Georgia, "John Marshall made his decision, let him enforce it." There is a debate as to whether Jackson actually ever said or wrote that. Even then the decision was written in such a way that no action was necessary.
Not even Andrew Jackson, or his advisors, went so far as to say he could kill a man with impunity while in office.
The Constitution explicitly spells out the exceptions to the pardon power, and self-pardoning is not one of the exceptions. However, one of the exceptions is a president can't pardon a state charge, and shooting even a federal officer can be charged as a state crime.
Perhaps. If it happened on federal government property in Washington DC there is no "state" that would have any jurisdiction. Its a unique location.
Perhaps. If it happened on federal government property in Washington DC there is no "state" that would have any jurisdiction. Its a unique location.
DC has its own criminal code and court system just like any state does, and they can assert jurisdiction over violations of their criminal code even if they take place on federal property. If I shoot someone in Nicolet National Forest, the State of Wisconsin can still bring charges. No different here.
Trump could pardon himself for the crime of shooting the FBI director. He would not have to be indicted first. He could easily preemptively do that before he was impeached and removed from office. Then it would go to the Supremes to decide if pardoning himself was valid. They have ruled in the past that "No man can be a judge in his own case." I would imagine that if the crime and subsequent pardon cause such civil unrest that threatened the US itself the Supremes would be persuaded to overturn it.
He could not escape state or district charges, however. His pardon would only cover Federal crimes.
that is what we will see if he gets cute with the pardons. I'm sure Mueller has a kill switch built in in case he is relieved of duties before the investigation is complete. Even if Trump and/or Pence were to issue a blanket pardon, there will still be plenty of legal situations facing him as soon as he leaves the OO.
DC has its own criminal code and court system just like any state does, and they can assert jurisdiction over violations of their criminal code even if they take place on federal property. If I shoot someone in Nicolet National Forest, the State of Wisconsin can still bring charges. No different here.
But the DC is not a state.
And the Metropolitan Police Department is different and actually under the control of the President in some cases. There is no separate state like your Wisconsin example. Ultimately it would be a federal charge regardless. If for example Trump killed someone at the White House, resigned and Pence pardoned him he would get away with murder. If he did it at Mira Largo well that would be a whole different thing.
The MPD has a unique role in that it serves as a local police department, with county, state and Federal responsibilities, and is under a municipal government but operates under Federal authority.
What is interesting and not in a good way. What if a president was to get into a physical altercation with his wife and injure her? Could he be arrested for this or charged with anything while president? What if she fought back and he died? Would that be considered an assassination or self defense?
Last edited by Oklazona Bound; 06-04-2018 at 09:12 AM..
And the Metropolitan Police Department is different and actually under the control of the President in some cases. There is no separate state like your Wisconsin example. Ultimately it would be a federal charge regardless. If for example Trump killed someone at the White House, resigned and Pence pardoned him he would get away with murder.
The MPD has a unique role in that it serves as a local police department, with county, state and Federal responsibilities, and is under a municipal government but operates under Federal authority.
Even though they operate under federal authority per the Constitution, Congress has granted DC significant self-rule autonomy. That includes its own elected mayor and representatives, its own police force, its own criminal code, its own civil code, and a separate judiciary to enforce those codes even though they are technically federal appointees.
For someone who's "done nothing wrong" he sure seems to have his bowels in an uproar.
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