'More important public interest': Legal expert says judge got Trump sentence wrong
President-elect Donald Trump should not have gotten away scot-free without any penalty whatsoever after being convicted on 34 felony counts of business fraud, according to a legal analyst.
Eric Foster, an attorney and columnist with The Plan Dealer, argued that the immunity doctrine cited by Judge Juan Merchan should not have colored his decision to impose an actual penalty on the convicted felon, soon to be the 47th president of the United States.
That's because the immunity doctrine doesn't apply to "unofficial acts," and Trump's convictions in this case were for acts he committed for his family business, The Trump Organization.
"If the presidential immunity doctrine did not apply to prevent the sentencing, then surely it did not apply to prevent the imposition of an actual sentence," Foster wrote Wednesday on Cleveland.com.
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Foster continued, "Yes, the public has an interest in having a president unencumbered by criminal cases, but I think the more important public interest is that no one — not even the U.S. president — is above the law. That interest weighs heavier in a case where a defendant makes clear that he believes that he is above the law. Further, the public’s interest in an unencumbered president weighs less in a case where the public had an opportunity to protect that specific interest by not voting for someone facing criminal prosecution. Some things just come with electing criminals."
The solution, according to Foster, would have been a fine with a period of probation. "No drug testing or other restrictions. Just a requirement that he not commit any more crimes. I imagine that most defendants convicted of that crime end up with a similar sentence," Foster wrote.
The legal analyst concluded, "Trump avoided impeachment by the U.S. Senate because he was no longer president. He avoided federal criminal prosecution because he was the president. He now avoids New York criminal penalties because he’s going to be president. Here in America, no one is above the law. Except for Donald Trump. Teflon Don."