Clinton's Lead is Dropping like a Lead Brick

[Divernan]

29. Good question re procedure in event of criminal indictment of a party's nominee

I know in my state (Pennsylvania) individual, indicted-but-not-yet-convicted, elected officials continue to "serve" and of course collect salaries and benefits, until actually convicted, at which time they are stripped of office. We have gone through this with indicted state representatives, state senators and state supreme court justices. We currently have a state Attorney General who has been stripped of her law license by the state bar association, but continues in office.

But case law has established that even CONVICTED felons can run for, be elected to and hold federal office.

Nodine is not the first man behind bars to seek the chance to serve the public while serving time. In 2002, former Rep. James Traficant, I-Ohio, took 15 percent of the vote even though he had just started an eight-year sentence for bribery, racketeering and other crimes. Going farther back in history, Matthew Lyon was successful in 1798. He had been convicted of libel, ran for Congress from prison and won.

The Constitution lists three conditions one must meet to be a candidate for the House of Representatives -- you must be at least 25 years old, have been a citizen for at least seven years and live in the state you hope to represent. These are all that are required, and states may not add to them, for example, by prohibiting a felon from running for office. According to a 2002 Congressional Research Service report, these conditions "are fixed and may not be supplemented by Congress nor by any State unilaterally."

States have more leeway when it comes to setting rules for who may hold state level office, but they have none at the federal level. The Supreme Court, in a case involving term limits, made it clear that states may not interfere. In U.S. Term Limits, Inc. vs. Thornton, the court struck down an amendment to the Arkansas constitution that limited those elected to Congress to three terms in the House and two in the Senate.

The court explained in its decision that not only states but even Congress itself could not "impose additional qualifications (that) would violate that ‘fundamental principle of our representative democracy . . . that the people should choose whom they please to govern them,’" according to an analysis in the Brigham Young University Law Review.

However, federal law does not protect anyone's right to run as a member of a poltical party.

Justin Levitt, professor at Loyola Law School, has more discouraging news for Nodine. "Nodine is right that federal law protects his right to run," Levitt said, "But it doesn't likely protect his right to run as a Republican, or even to run for the right to run as a Republican standard-bearer." So long as parties don’t discriminate in ways banned by the Constitution -- on the basis of race or religion for example -- then they can do much as they please, Levitt said.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2013/jun/25/stephen-nodine/can-convicted-felon-run-congress-jail/

Based on the Clintons' past performance, I believe Hillary would NEVER voluntarily withdraw her candidacy, if indicted, either during the primary or the general election. This would be the penultimate hot Clinton mess to engulf the country - oh, and how delighted Putin and other foreign powers would be to see the U.S. distracted by a protracted legal battle, and what advantages would they seek to take under such circumstances?