Felon-candidate bill raises a few good questions
Jay Evensen
In many cases unconvicted felons seem to get elected repeatedly until they are caught. And we won't even get into the idea of whether the way taxes are spent (a bridge to nowhere, anyone?) are giant public rip-offs.
But the Utah Legislature is about to consider a bill that would make it clear that, at least in this state, a convicted felon cannot hold state or local elected office — regardless of how convincingly he or she may have paid a debt to society.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Brent Goodfellow, D-West Valley, isn't likely to generate a lot of controversy. It is backed by the attorney general's office and is considered to be little more than a clarification of a rather confusing part of state law.
But I think it raises some interesting philosophical questions about what it means to be an American.
Some people, after all, are here because at some point an ancestor decided it was time to leave the old country and start life anew — a clean slate, with all previous mistakes left behind. A lot of Americans believe strongly in redemption and the ability to overcome past sins. They also believe strongly in democracy, which includes an inherent trust in the people's ability to choose how to govern themselves.
At least, that's true on the local level. The Constitution provides only three qualifications to run for Congress — age, citizenship (including length of time as a citizen) and residency. To run for president, you also must be born into citizenship and have lived in the country 14 years. The founders spelled out exactly how a president could be impeached, but they didn't say anything about an impeached and convicted president trying for office again.
The Supreme Court has held that, in this case at least, the Constitution means what it says. Convicted felons can hold any of those offices. And don't think people haven't tried. Most recently, James Traficant, who represented Ohio in the House until he was expelled and imprisoned for taking kickbacks, ran for re-election as an independent from his prison cell. He lost.
Utah has had its share of felons run for office, as well. Cody Judy, who did time after briefly holding what turned out to be a bogus bomb to the head of President Howard W. Hunter during a fireside at BYU when President Hunter was president of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has run for Congress twice. He lost.
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