By ADAM LIPTAK NOV. 29, 2016
In his campaign and as president-elect, Donald J. Trump has made statements that are at odds with the United States Constitution.
“Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!”
NOV. 29, 2016 ON TWITTER
The Supreme Court has ruled that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment. It has also said that the government may not strip Americans of their citizenship.
FIRST AMENDMENT
“Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
14TH AMENDMENT, SECTION 1
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
“Prior to the election it was well known that I have interests in properties all over the world.Only the crooked media makes this a big deal!”
NOV. 21, 2016 ON TWITTER
The Constitution bars federal government officials from receiving gifts and payments from foreign governments, Mr. Trump’s business dealings with entities controlled by foreign states could test that limitation.
ARTICLE I, SECTION 9
“No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.”
On conceding the election: “What I’m saying is that I will tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense.”
OCT. 19, 2016 AT THE THIRD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
For more than 200 years, presidential elections in the United States have been settled according to the procedures set out in the Constitution and other laws, and they have concluded with the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. Mr. Trump’s statement leaves open the possibility that he will try to break from those precedents.
12TH AMENDMENT
“The person having the greatest number of votes for president, shall be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed.”
“Because you’d be in jail.”
OCT. 9, 2016 AT THE SECOND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Mr. Trump has said that, if elected, he would instruct his attorney general to reopen criminal investigations into Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server. (After the election, he appeared to soften his position, saying, “I don’t want to hurt the Clintons.”) Mr. Trump will have the legal power to tell his attorney general to open or close investigations, though doing so would violate political norms. But his suggestion that the president has the unilateral power to jail people for federal crimes overstates the president’s authority. Presidents acting alone do not adjudicate criminal cases or send people to jail. By contrast, the Constitution does grant the president the unilateral power to show leniency.
ARTICLE II, SECTION 2
The president “shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States.”
“I want to protect Article I, Article II, Article XII — go down the list.”
JULY 8, 2016 AT A PRIVATE MEETING WITH HOUSE REPUBLICANS
But the Constitution has only seven articles. There is no Article XII.
ARTICLE II, SECTION 1
The president must promise to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
“We’re going to open up those libel laws. So when The New York Times writes a hit piece which is a total disgrace, or when The Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they’re totally protected.”
FEB. 26, 2016 AT A RALLY IN FORT WORTH, TEX.
Libel is a state-law tort constrained by constitutional principles. A president’s views do not figure in its application. The Supreme Court has said that the First Amendment erects significant hurdles to libel suits from public officials, candidates for public office and public figures, but it has never said that newspapers are “totally protected.”
FIRST AMENDMENT
“Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”
“One of the first things I’d do in terms of executive order, if I win, will be to sign a strong, strong statement that would go out to the country … anybody killing a police officer, the death penalty is going to happen.”
DEC. 10, 2015 SPEAKING TO A POLICE ASSOCIATION
Again, Mr. Trump overstates the president’s role in the constitutional order. In addition, the Supreme Court has said that laws calling for mandatory death sentences violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
FIFTH AMENDMENT
“No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law.”
Additional work by Josh Williams and K.K. Rebecca Lai
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