Overview
- The first comprehensive book-length study of the arguments regarding presidential immunity from criminal prosecution
- Considers how the concept and practice of presidential immunity affects our understanding of the US presidency
- Provides timely discussion of Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings
Part of the book series: The Evolving American Presidency (EAP)
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About this book
This book provides a detailed look at the constitutional, historical, and political arguments concerning presidential immunity from prosecution, as well as the opinions of the Office of Legal Counsel that provided the justification for the decision not to prosecute President Trump. Focusing on those opinions, the book examines the constitutional basis of presidential immunity, both textual and historical, as reflected in the deliberations of the 1787 Convention and the ratification debates. The opinions are viewed in the context of the criminal investigations of Presidents Nixon and Clinton that gave rise to those opinions, as well as the pronouncements of the Supreme Court concerning their claims, and those of President Trump to immunity from judicial inquiry. Lastly, the book analyzes presidential immunity in light of the separation of powers, the availability of impeachment, and the discordance between presidential immunity and the rule of law.
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Keywords
Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Part II
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
"Lowell Brown has written a compendious, even-handed, exhaustively-researched exploration of the arguments for and against the proposition that an American President can be criminally prosecuted while in office. No scholar, advocate, or citizen concerned with the scope of presidential power or the real danger of an emergent culture of executive branch impunity should be without this book.” —Frank O. Bowman, Professor of Law at the University of Missouri, USA, and author of High Crimes and Misdemeanors: A History of Impeachment for the Age of Trump (2019)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
H. Lowell Brown is a practicing attorney specializing in white collar criminal defense and compliance, and has taught courses in white collar crime, international criminal law and procedure and jurisprudence at the University of Maine Law School, USA. He has written numerous law journal articles on issues of white collar crime and ethics, and is the author of five books, including The American Constitutional Tradition (2017) and High Crimes and Misdemeanors in Presidential Impeachment (2010).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Prosecution of the President of the United States
Book Subtitle: The Constitution, Executive Power, and the Rule of Law
Authors: H. Lowell Brown
Series Title: The Evolving American Presidency
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81373-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-81372-7Published: 17 November 2021
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-81375-8Published: 18 November 2022
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-81373-4Published: 16 November 2021
Series ISSN: 2945-6150
Series E-ISSN: 2945-6169
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 257
Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations
Topics: Political Science, Legislative and Executive Politics, Political Leadership, Constitutional Law, Political History