Does the constitution say we can arrest Bush?

[Marleyb]

Section 6.
Clause 1: The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. (See Note 6) They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, beprivileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

Does this go for POTUS? And we can arrest him whenever, wherever?

[soothsayer]

1. And who's allowed to arrest a president? Is it MPs? Sherrifs? I

swear I knew this bit of trivia once upon a time. There's some jurisdictional thingy in play.

Edited for typo

[benburch]

2. I belive that it has been traditionally asserted that the POTUS....

can only be impeached.

Question is, since he controls the Justice Department, who would order him arrested anyway?

[GrpCaptMandrake]

10. The Federal Marshalls are under the control of the Judicial Branch

I do believe. They could do it upon an appropriate order from an "activist" :rofl: Federal Judge.

[benburch]

12. Know anybody on the federal bench with a score to settle?

Might be fun to see if we could get such an arrest warrant.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

13. A subpoena would be a nice place to start

Ignoring one will get you a real double-plus *quick* visit from a Marshall.

Remember, a federal jurisdiction lawsuit is what allowed Ken Starr to go on his nasty little fishing expedition. And the case law is all right there now.

Unless I read wrongly, those lawsuits are in the offing from people who've been wrongly accused due to NSA activities.

[bush_is_wacko]

17. and convicted. If he is convicted of a criminal offense you would

think that he would be arrest-able. Obviously it has never happened before but I really don't see why he couldn't be arrested.

IMO, it is highly likely that he would be pardoned anyway. That sucks but it is still what past history tells us. Presidential consideration and all.

[MrMonk]

19. When he leaves office, he is liable for civil/criminal charges.

[benburch]

20. Want to bet he flees jurisdiction if that happens?

Switzerland is nice in the Summer.

[bryant69]

3. I don't nkow if it would apply as much

That section is presumably created to keep the President or the Courts from arresting a congressperson because they disagree with them (as has been a popular technique throughout the ages).

The President doesn't seem to warrent the same kind of protection, as it is he who we need protecting from.

I could be wrong though.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[UTUSN]

4. Since he called the Constitution "a goddamned piece of paper"

-----and has governed from day 1 with contempt for it, isn't that treason? He might as well have said, "Constitution?!---we don't need no steenkin' Constitution!"

[madokie]

8. Wasn't that what he said

[jobycom]

5. The Secret Service would prevent an actual arrest

And the president can't be indicted, according to US precedent. SCOTUS ruled long ago that the president can't be indicted because the Constitution doesn't allow it and because it would interfere with his Constitutionally proscribed duties. Notice that Congresscritters can't be arrested while in session except in cases of treason, etc. The intention of the writers seems to have been to prevent government officials from being interfered with while performing their duties. The history of this, of course, is that the King of England was constantly arresting Parliaments to prevent them from doing their duties, and as a threat to them to do his bidding. They also didn't want a president to be arrested by political opponents.

The president can be impeached, and he can be removed from office if convicted by the Senate of certain specific crimes, and he can be indicted and imprisoned once out of office (either by removal or because his term expired). But so far SCOTUS has ruled that he cannot be arrested or tried while in office.

But hey, we could try!

[meow2u3]

11. A sitting President cannot be indicted

while still in office. But he can be indicted once he leaves office.

This immunity is only temporary. Justice, in this case, is delayed, not totally denied. AFAIU, the statute of limitations begins the day he'd leave office.

[jobycom]

14. Which is what I said, only using a lot more words

and obviously not as clearly as you just did. :-)

[Marleyb]

16. but what if he murdered someone?

or say 100,000 people.

[sweetm2475]

6. i have wondered the same thing....

can't we do a citizens arrest or something? anyone out there know???

[onenote]

15. early nominee for silliest post of 2006

You plan to walk right up the President and slap cuffs on him? What's the plan -- to yell "Hey Secret Service, look over there!" and then run past them yelling "citizens arrest, citzens arrest"?

Maybe you can get Gomer Pyle to do it for you.


onenote

[sweetm2475]

18. yeah, that was my plan...

that's why I always walk around with a spare set of handcuffs and my plastic deputy badge.:spray:

[jsamuel]

7. completely irrelevent: "during their Attendance at the Session"

"during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses"

All this says is that you can't arrest Senators or Congressmen during a house or senate session.

[Burning Water]

9. By "we" do you mean

some individual person upset by election fraud, treason, whatever. Nope, I wouldn't try. The Secret Service is unlikely to have gotten the memo. Anyway, the clause applies to Congress, not the president, and seems t me to cover civil and misdeameanors only. And it gives an immunity, not a cause for arrest.