Cass R. Sunstein, Columnist

A Sitting President Can't Be Prosecuted

Alexander Hamilton helps clarify the constitutional remedy.

July 31, 2017 at 12:30 PM UTC

Cass R. Sunstein is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is the author of “The Cost-Benefit Revolution” and a co-author of “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness.”

There is another way.
Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

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Can a sitting president be prosecuted? Might Donald Trump, or any president, face the prospect of jail?

A memorandum of law, written in 1998 but released last week, concludes that the answer is a qualified “yes.” The memorandum was written by Chapman University law professor Ronald Rotunda, who was then at the University of Illinois, for Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel appointed to investigate President Bill Clinton.