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by TheAlchemist 755 days ago
Not really.

I despise this guy as much as any sane person. And for sure he did everything he was judged for, and much more actually, even before becoming president.

But for better or worse, people in power have some kind of immunity, especially for minor things. When political opponents are pursued for those minor things, it's a bad sign for democracy.
2 comments
acdha 755 days ago
Committing felonies to deprive voters of information which could change the outcome an election isn’t exactly a minor crime, and it’s at least as bad for a democracy to have people everyone knows are guilty skate free because of their political power. I think the idea that no man is above the law is highly important so the correct path here should be having those cases be meaningful and carefully prosecuted, as was the case here.
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defrost 755 days ago
> But for better or worse, people in power have some kind of immunity,

Varies a lot by country.

> especially for minor things.

Interestingly it's almost always intended to only apply to official actions taken as part of the duty of office, although it's often watered down and extended.

eg: "A sitting president of the United States is granted immunity for Official Acts taken as President."

however "It is under legal dispute whether he also enjoys immunity from criminal liability or prosecution."

and " Neither civil nor criminal immunity is explicitly granted in the Constitution or any federal statute".

It's certainly not the case that US founders intended to extend immunity to random US citizens who are merely running for POTUS, nor that immunity should be extended backwards in time should they end up as POTUS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_immunity_in_the_U...

In other contexts, eg: Australia, the matter of Executive Immunities leads with

    It is a fundamental tenet of the rule of law that no one is above the law. This principle applies to the government, its officers and instrumentalities: their conduct should be ruled by the law.
and goes on to describe why there are exceptions for the "big stuff" and not for minor things (shoplifting is still a crime).

https://www.alrc.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ip46_ch_1...

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