140 Can a President be a Felon - editorialpinups

This question has come up attached to an interesting statement.  The statement is “If you can be a felon and be president, they need to remove felon off of all job applications, rental applications, and professional certifications.  If the highest position in the land can be taken by a felon, all positions should follow suit.”

The constitution states the requirements to be able to be president. “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.”

To change this to include not being president due to having a felony conviction the constitution defines the process: “The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”

Regarding items such as job application, rental applications, and professional certifications have a different process.  These are not dictated in the constitution and therefore the tenth amendment comes in play: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”   

Normally the rules for these items are done at state and local levels when those government entities have requests to make those rules.  This procedure is simpler, but it is decentralized.  It is brought to city, county, state levels.  This means that Davenport can force the removal of the felony label while Bettendorf could retain it.  It could be removed in Illinois but kept in Iowa.

The United States was created after winning a war of separation from a monarchy.  While not a perfect model it seems to have weathered well. The country will work it out once the Federal Government returns to the roots as defined.  The federal government does many things that are not defined n the Constitution.  The goal of the majority of the founders was to not have a strong centralized government.  That can be changed, but there is a process.