felons and presidential candidacy

[Bryan Wildenthal]

Any such statute would be unconstitutional under Powell v. McCormack, since
Congress cannot add or subtract to/from the constitutional qualifications
for members of Congress, nor (by logical extension, I would think)
President.  Any "natural born citizen" (presumably meaning anyone who has
been a U.S. citizen since birth) at least 35, who has resided in the US for
14 years (not clear to me if that means immediately prior to assuming
office, or just some time(s) during his/her life), is eligible for the
Presidency.

Bryan Wildenthal, Thomas Jefferson School of Law

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elliot Tenofsky [mailto:etenof at LINFIELD.EDU]
> Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 10:21 AM
> To: CONLAWPROF at listserv.ucla.edu
> Subject: felons and presidential candidacy
>
>
>         A student asked whether someone convicted of a felony
> may run for
> president.  Part of me remembers that there are federal statutes that
> prohibit this, if the felony is federal, but I have no references or
> memory re state laws.  Can anyone help?  Thanks, Elliot.
>