There is no law that says a convicted felon can't be a candidate for president or hold the office if elected. Period. The framers left it up to voters to decide. In a way, it makes sense. Someone might be wrongfully convicted (by mistake or as part of a political smear campaign), or be rightly convicted of a picayune charge or one based on a flawed law. Example: carrying a concealed weapon is a felony in some states, and perfectly legal in others. Example: in some states, 16 years is the age of consent; in others it's 18. In other words, there can be an arbitrary quality to the laws. Why should the voters be deprived of a great candidate or office holder because of such arbitrariness? The Constitution is a very brief document. You can carry the thing around in your shirt pocket. There was no room to account for all contingencies. So the framers left a lot of gaps, hoping the electorate would be wise enough to make good choices. The Constitution is a very imperfect document. It allows the use of democracy to end democracy. That's exactly what Trump, MAGA, the Heritage Foundation, et al, are trying to do. It's up to the electorate to stop them. Actually, it is remarkable that he was convicted at all, considering all the road blocks he can afford to throw up. Alvin Bragg killed a bear!

I wish I could, I have no idea why he isn't behind bars.

@Flyingsaucesir Ok then. I'm going to run for congress and pass a law that says assholes can't be president no matter what state they're from.

After decades of supposedly covert efforts, both SCOTUS and DOJ have been corrupted so that DOJ would not prosecute, and SCOTUS overturned the Constitution to remove the protection against seditionists. Judge Cannon also violated her oath of office.

@racocn8 I have no comment other than THEY SUCK

@HippieChick58 Trump is free to plague us with his idiocy because our judicial system is designed to make it hard to deprive someone of their liberty. The bar for criminal conviction is high: proof beyond a reasonable doubt. And Trumps crimes are (mostly) non-violent, "white-collar." So while he poses an imminent threat to democracy in America, he is not viewed by the law as a dangerous criminal in the sense that Al Capone was. And though Capone was certainly guilty of many violent crimes, including premeditated murder, all that the authorities could prove beyond a reasonable doubt was tax evasion. The system generally errs on the side of caution. At least it does with respect to rich, white men.

@Flyingsaucesir On the other hand, how many people are incarcerated for minor offenses and misdemeanors. The law is not dealt out fairly for them. People of money and influence often get to walk for acts which get others charged.

@TheoryNumber3 Which is why there is a movement to do away with the imposition of bail as a condition of release for minor offenses.