我抽煙，我喝酒，我打人，但我是個(gè)好總統(tǒng)。

????美國前總統(tǒng)唐納德·特朗普（Donald Trump）被美國司法部以37項(xiàng)罪名起訴，罪名為卸任后不當(dāng)處理機(jī)密文件，其中部分為“絕密”，且妨礙政府部門追回。（特朗普表示他無罪）這也是首次美國前總統(tǒng)受到聯(lián)邦訴訟。

????Former President Donald Trump was indicted on 37 counts by the U.S. Justice Department for mishandling classified documents he kept after leaving office, some of which were labeled "top secret," and then obstructing the government’s efforts to recover them. (Trump has said he is innocent.) This is the first time that a former president has been indicted on federal charges.

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????這已經(jīng)是特朗普今年的第二次刑事訴訟。2023年3月，曼哈頓的大陪審團(tuán)曾調(diào)查特朗普向成人電影明星斯托米·丹尼爾斯(Stormy Daniels)支付封口費(fèi)一事，并對他提起了刑事訴訟，指控他謊報(bào)封口費(fèi)的用途。（如果該行為是為掩蓋罪行，則會(huì)被視為重罪）特朗普同時(shí)還面臨亞特蘭大富爾頓縣地方檢察官的刑事調(diào)查。

????This is also the second time in a year that Trump has been charged criminally. A Manhattan grand jury, investigating former President Donald Trump over a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, indicted him on criminal charges related to misstating the purpose of the payment back in March 2023. (This can be considered a felony if it is done to hide another crime.) Trump also faces criminal probes by the Fulton County district attorney in Atlanta.

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????根據(jù)美國聯(lián)邦法規(guī)18卷第2071條，任何人若被發(fā)現(xiàn)持有絕密文件，不僅將面臨罰款和監(jiān)禁，而且還將被“剝奪在美國政府的任職資格”。

????According to federal statute 18 U.S. Code § 2071, anyone found in possession of top-secret files would not only be subject to fines and jail time but would also "be disqualified from holding any office under the United States."

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????所以，對于準(zhǔn)備在2024年再戰(zhàn)總統(tǒng)的特朗普，這意味著什么呢？如果特朗普面臨刑事訴訟，是不是他這輩子就和白宮無緣了呢？

????So, what does that mean for Trump, who is running for president again in 2024? If Trump is indicted on criminal charges, wouldn't he receive a lifetime ban from the White House?

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????法律專家表示，還不一定。

????Not so fast, say legal experts.

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????按照美國憲法的規(guī)定，競選國家最高職位（也就是總統(tǒng)）只有兩個(gè)必須滿足的條件。一，必須是美國公民；二，必須年滿三十五歲。所以很難說一個(gè)人到底有沒有資格競選總統(tǒng)，即使是罪犯也是一樣。

????Under the U.S. Constitution, which lays out the qualifications for holding the nation's highest office, the only limitations are you must be a U.S. citizen and at least 35 years old. It's really hard to disqualify someone from running for president, even a convicted criminal.

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1. 憲法VS聯(lián)邦法 The Constitution Versus Federal Law

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????聯(lián)邦法的內(nèi)容，以及定罪量刑標(biāo)準(zhǔn)都是由美國國會(huì)制定的，但最終解釋權(quán)卻不在國會(huì)手上。即使是已經(jīng)成文幾十年的法條，只要最高法院認(rèn)為違反憲法，就會(huì)被推翻。

????Federal laws, and the consequences for breaking them, are written by Congress, but Congress doesn't have the final word. Even a federal law that's been on the books for decades can still be struck down by the Supreme Court if it's found to be in violation of the Constitution.

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????美國《憲法》第2條第1款第5項(xiàng)明確規(guī)定了競選總統(tǒng)的所需條件:

????The Constitution (Article II, Section 1, Clause 5) clearly lays out the qualifications for the presidency:

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????任何人除出生于合眾國的公民或在本憲法通過時(shí)已為合眾國公民者外，不得當(dāng)選為總統(tǒng)。凡年齡未滿三十五歲，或居住合眾國境內(nèi)未滿十四年者，不得被選為總統(tǒng)。

????No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

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????那么問題來了，國會(huì)能不能給憲法條款加上幾筆，或者取消某些人的資格？愛荷華大學(xué)法學(xué)院(University of Iowa College of law)法學(xué)教授、選舉法博客(Election law Blog)撰稿人德里克·穆勒(Derek Muller)表示，可能性幾乎為零。我們曾在2022年對他進(jìn)行采訪。

????The question is, can Congress write a law that adds qualifications for federal office — or disqualifications in this case — to what's already written in the Constitution? Almost certainly not, said Derek Muller, a law professor at the University of Iowa College of Law and a contributor to the Election Law Blog. We spoke with him back in 2022.

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????“‘國會(huì)不能增加擔(dān)任聯(lián)邦公職的資格條件’這一點(diǎn)在法律上無可撼動(dòng)”穆勒表示，“你可以想象一下，這是個(gè)很實(shí)際的問題。如果可以，國會(huì)就能通過法條來排除政治對手，不樂意讓某些人當(dāng)選，就可以給他們增加難度。”

????"There's a pretty robust understanding of law that says Congress cannot add qualifications for federal office," said Muller. "You can imagine, as a practical matter, why that would be a problem. Congress could pass a statute that disqualifies its political enemies or makes it more difficult for its disfavored candidates to win."

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????所以即使聯(lián)邦法規(guī)定，違反某些條件的人不允許擔(dān)任公職，這一規(guī)定也會(huì)被法院質(zhì)疑。而且很有可能最高法法官會(huì)認(rèn)為這一規(guī)定違憲，讓當(dāng)事人繼續(xù)競選。

????So even if a federal law says that violators will be disqualified from holding office, it could be challenged in court. And odds are very good that the Supreme Court justices would strike down the "disqualification" part as unconstitutional and let the person run for office again.

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2. 第14修正案呢？What About the 14th Amendment?

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????然而，美國憲法中有一條鮮為人知的條款，犯有一項(xiàng)特定罪行的人不得擔(dān)任公職:叛亂。

????There is, however, a previously little-known clause in the Constitution that disqualifies people from office who have committed one specific crime: insurrection.

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????第14修正案第3款如下:

????Section 3 of the 14th Amendment reads:

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????無論何人，凡先前曾以國會(huì)議員、或合眾國官員、或任何州議會(huì)議員、或任何州行政或司法官員的身份宣誓維護(hù)合眾國憲法，而后又參與對合眾國的暴亂或反叛，或給予合眾國敵人幫助或鼓勵(lì)，都不得擔(dān)任國會(huì)參議院或眾議員、或總統(tǒng)和副總統(tǒng)選舉人、或擔(dān)任合眾國或任何州下屬的任何文職或軍職官員。但國會(huì)可以兩院各三分之二的票數(shù)取消此種限制。

????No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

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????穆勒說：“這是憲法中唯二提到競選資格的地方。禁止曾協(xié)助過任何形式叛亂的人在政府擔(dān)任公職?！?/p>

????"That's the only other place in the Constitution that says, this is prohibited conduct and we don't want individuals serving in government who have assisted in some sort of rebellion," explained Muller.

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????第14修正案的第3款是在美國南北戰(zhàn)爭后寫下的。當(dāng)時(shí)美國國會(huì)想要阻止任何曾在南方邦聯(lián)任職的官員再次擔(dān)任聯(lián)邦或州公職。1872年，國會(huì)解除了對于多數(shù)被禁官員的資格剝奪（法律上稱“無能力”）。

????Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was written in the wake of the Civil War, when Congress wanted to prevent any officials who served in the Confederacy from holding federal or state office again. In 1872, that disqualification (or "disability" in legal language) was lifted by Congress for most of the banned officials.

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????這項(xiàng)第14修正案的“取消資格“條款而后便一直在角落吃灰。直到2020年1月6日，美國國會(huì)暴亂，前總統(tǒng)特朗普被控煽動(dòng)叛亂。但根據(jù)第14修正案，特朗普或其他”曾宣誓支持美國憲法“的政府官員究竟要如何才能被取消任職資格？

????The "disqualification clause" of the 14th Amendment was collecting dust until the Jan. 6, 2020, attack on the Capitol and accusations that former President Trump incited the insurrection. But what exactly would it take for Trump or another government official who had "previously taken an oath ... to support the Constitution of the United States" to be disqualified from office under the 14th Amendment?

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????穆勒表示“人們對此有很多爭論”。個(gè)人是否應(yīng)由于煽動(dòng)或支持叛亂而被定罪? 國會(huì)是否應(yīng)通過一項(xiàng)單獨(dú)的“授權(quán)法令”來確定參與暴亂或反叛的個(gè)人? 甚至有人質(zhì)疑，取消資格是否適用于總統(tǒng)職位。

????"There's a lot of debate about that," said Muller. Does the individual need to be convicted of inciting or supporting a rebellion? Does Congress have to pass a separate "enabling statute" that identifies the individuals who participated in the insurrection or rebellion? There are even people who question whether the disqualification applies to the presidency at all.

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3. 是，你可以在監(jiān)獄競選總統(tǒng)Yes, You Can Run for President From Prison

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????穆勒還補(bǔ)充道，憲法的制定者們故意將競選公職的門檻放得很低。與歐洲權(quán)貴們不同，在美國競選公職無需土地或者財(cái)富。這就是美式民主?！皫缀跞魏稳硕伎梢愿傔x”。

????Muller added that the framers of the Constitution consciously set a "very low bar" of entry for running for office. Unlike European aristocracies, American officeholders didn't have to own land or be wealthy. That's the beauty of American-style democracy. "Just about anyone can run," said Muller.

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????即使是已定罪的重犯和罪犯也是一樣。在1920年的總統(tǒng)競選中，以直言不諱出名的社會(huì)活動(dòng)家尤金·德布斯（Eugene Debs）在喬治亞州的聯(lián)邦監(jiān)獄參選美國總統(tǒng)。1918年，德布斯因他言辭激烈的演講譴責(zé)美國參加一戰(zhàn)而被控煽動(dòng)叛亂罪。1920年，德布斯以“第9653號罪犯”的身份參選，贏得了3.5%的選票。

????And that goes for convicted felons and other criminals. In the 1920 presidential election, the outspoken socialist Eugene Debs campaigned for president from a federal prison in Georgia. Debs was charged and convicted of sedition in 1918 for his fiery speeches denouncing America's participation in World War I. Running as "Convict No. 9653," Debs won 3.5 percent of the vote in 1920.

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????更近些時(shí)候，邊緣政客林登·拉魯什(Lyndon LaRouche)因欺詐美國國稅局入獄7年后曾于上世紀(jì)90年代和本世紀(jì)初三次競選總統(tǒng)。

????More recently, the fringe politician Lyndon LaRouche ran for president three times in the 1990s and early 2000s after serving seven years in a federal prison for defrauding the IRS.

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4. 競選是一回事，但要是我真贏了怎么辦？

Running Is One Thing, But What About Actually Winning and Serving?

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????正如穆勒所說，在美國人人都可以競選公職，但可以競選和真正獲勝之間，是否存在差別呢？如果一名罪犯或叛國嫌疑人真的贏下競選，有沒有辦法開除他們，或禁止他們再次競選呢？

????As Muller said, just about anybody can run for political office in America, but is there a difference between running and winning? And if a criminal or suspected traitor is elected to office, are there other ways to remove them or disqualify them from running again?

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????當(dāng)然有，穆勒說到。彈劾就是個(gè)殺手锏。根據(jù)憲法，美國國會(huì)有權(quán)對“總統(tǒng)、副總統(tǒng)、以及美國所有政府官員”發(fā)起彈劾程序。如果眾議院多數(shù)議員支持彈劾，隨后將由參議院進(jìn)行裁決。如果參議院判定該官員犯有“叛國罪、賄賂罪或其他輕重罪”，該官員將會(huì)被免職。

????Yes, said Muller. Impeachment is the big one. According to the Constitution, Congress has the authority to launch impeachment proceedings against "The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States." If a majority of the House votes to impeach, that's followed by a trial in the Senate. If the Senate votes to convict the official of "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors," the person is removed from office.

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????據(jù)美國眾議院，曾遭彈劾的官員包括15名聯(lián)邦法官、三名總統(tǒng)（安德魯·約翰遜、比爾·克林頓和兩次被彈劾的唐納德·特朗普），一名內(nèi)閣部長和一名參議員。其中只有8名聯(lián)邦法官被參議院定罪并免職。

????Civil officers who have been impeached by the House include 15 federal judges; three presidents (Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump who was impeached twice); a cabinet secretary and a U.S. senator, according to the U.S. House of Representatives. Only eight of this group, all federal judges, were convicted and removed from office by the Senate.

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????彈劾時(shí)，可以選擇是否剝奪其未來的任職資格。歷史上，參議院只禁止過3人再次在聯(lián)邦政府任職，均為聯(lián)邦法官。

????Disqualification from future office is an optional punishment with impeachment. In its history, the Senate has only barred three people from serving again in the federal government, all federal judges.

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????按照憲法規(guī)定，要禁止某人任職，彈劾是唯一的合法手段，但美國國會(huì)總有新花樣。穆勒說到，20世紀(jì)60年代，哈萊姆區(qū)一位國會(huì)議員以口無遮攔聞名，他名叫亞當(dāng)·克萊頓·鮑威爾(Adam Clayton Powell)，因在公共場合對同事進(jìn)行了一些“友好交流”而被排擠。

????Impeachment is the only legitimate constitutional tool to bar someone from office, but that doesn't mean that Congress hasn't experimented with other methods. In the 1960s, an outspoken Harlem congressman named Adam Clayton Powell embarrassed his colleagues in the House with some "suboptimal public dealings," noted Muller.

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????首先，眾議院投票剝奪了鮑威爾在委員會(huì)的職務(wù)，然后又采取了史無前例的做法——眾投票“拒絕”鮑威爾進(jìn)入下屆國會(huì)。換句話說，試圖取消他的任職資格。鮑威爾隨即提起訴訟，并鬧到了最高法院。最高法院裁定眾議院的行為違憲。(鮑威爾在他的家鄉(xiāng)選區(qū)非常受歡迎，因此他以86%的選票重新當(dāng)選國會(huì)議員。)

????First, the House voted to strip Powell of his committee posts, and then it took an unprecedented step — the House voted to "exclude" Powell from the next Congress. In other words, they tried to disqualify him from office. Powell sued and the case made it to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the House's actions were unconstitutional. (Powell was so popular in his home district that he was elected back to Congress with 86 percent of the vote.)

????美國國會(huì)還曾在總統(tǒng)身上故技重施。2020年，就在1月6日，國會(huì)暴亂的同一天，147名共和黨國會(huì)議員指控喬·拜登(Joe Biden)欺詐選民，拒絕承認(rèn)其當(dāng)選。換句話說，國會(huì)差一點(diǎn)就拒絕任命民選總統(tǒng)。

????Congress could try to do the same thing with a president. In 2020, on the same day as the Jan. 6 insurrection, 147 Republican congressmen and women raised objections to certifying President Joe Biden's victory over allegations of voter fraud. Congress came close, in other words, to refusing to seat an elected president.

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????穆勒說到:“選舉人團(tuán)代表的是人民和各州意見，如果他們以多數(shù)票選出了總統(tǒng)，國會(huì)就很難轉(zhuǎn)身拒絕。但也不好說，因?yàn)檫@已經(jīng)不是一個(gè)法律問題，而是一個(gè)政治問題?！?/p>

????"You're really in uncharted territory at that point," said Muller. "If a majority of the Electoral College, which represents the people and the states, has chosen a president, it's very hard for Congress to turn around and say we're going to reject that — as a political matter, which is different from the legal question."

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小知識(shí) Now That's Rough

????雖然囚犯和重罪犯可以競選政府公職，但數(shù)百萬身陷囹圄或有重罪記錄的美國人卻因國家剝奪選舉權(quán)法而被禁止投票。

????While prisoners and felons can run for office, millions of Americans behind bars or with felony convictions on their record are barred from voting by state disenfranchisement laws.

詞匯 Vocabulary

Former /?f?rm?r/ adj. 以前的，前任的

indicted /?n?da?t?d/ adj. 被起訴的，被控告的

obstructing /?b?str?kt??/ adj. 阻礙的，妨礙的

hush money /h?? ?m?ni/ n. 封口費(fèi)，肅靜費(fèi)

felony /?f?l?ni/ n. 重罪

possession /p??z???n/ n. 擁有，所有物

Constitution /?kɑnst??tu??n/ n. 憲法

Congress /?kɑ?gr?s/ n. 國會(huì)

Supreme Court /su?prim k?rt/ n. 最高法院

Amendment /??m?ndm?nt/ n. 修正案，修正條款

Insurrection /??ns??r?k??n/ n. 暴動(dòng)，起義

Rebellion /r??b?lj?n/ n. 叛亂，造反

Confederacy /k?n?f?d?r?si/ n. 聯(lián)盟，邦聯(lián)

Oath /o?θ/ n. 誓言，宣誓

Aristocracies /??r??stɑkr?siz/ n. 貴族政府，貴族統(tǒng)治

outspoken /?a?t?spo?k?n/ adj. 直言不諱的，直率的

fiery /?fa?ri/ adj. 烈火的，激烈的

IRS /a??ɑr??s/ abbr. (Internal Revenue Service) 美國國內(nèi)稅收局

Traitor /?tre?t?r/ n. 叛徒，背叛者

Impeachment /?m?pit?m?nt/ n. 彈劾

cabinet /?k?b?n?t/ n. 內(nèi)閣，櫥柜

legitimate /l????t?m?t/ adj. 合法的，合理的

district /?d?str?kt/ n. 區(qū)域，地區(qū)

Electoral College /??l?kt?r?l ?kɑl?d?/ n. 選舉團(tuán)

往期鏈接 Link

扇耳光是否合法？Is It Ever Legal to Punch Someone in the Face

為什么假期時(shí)你的便便會(huì)不正常？ Why your poop gets weird on vacation？

來源：https://people.howstuffworks.com/criminal-conviction-bar-running-for-president.htm

翻譯、校對、整理：QuasimodoW9