From Benjamin Wittes:
Does a criminal conviction of a past president, in fact, serve any significant democracy protective function in a prospective sense as that person seeks the presidency anew or is it just so much noise? Does Trump’s being convicted of 34 felonies make it any less likely that he will be elected president five months from now? Put another way, does the criminal law serve any meaningful role in shielding American democracy from its own populist instincts? Does it actually matter in a prospective sense?
From Thoughts on Donald Trump’s Conviction, in Lawfare.
