When an individual is convicted of a felony, one is often faced with a significant social stigma as well as ongoing judgment, discrimination, and marginalization from others in their communities, even among close friends and family. Finding a job is difficult, if not impossible, and regaining “popularity” among one’s peers is even harder. Now, former President Donald Trump must do this on a national level.
On May 30, 2024, Trump was officially convicted of falsifying business records in the first degree, which made him the first former U.S. President to be criminally charged, making him the first convicted felon to run for president.
When felons are initially charged with a crime, they can be removed from their current employment. The risk is higher when they are officially convicted.
“Most people don’t operate under employment contracts, which means employers can terminate you for any reason or no reason as long as it’s not based on some kind of discrimination,” SMU law professor Cara Pierce said.
For many former felons, it’s not just the struggle of losing their jobs but the difficulty of eventually getting hired again. A criminal history often defines a person, changing the way the working world treats them.
“I can hire you or not hire you for any reason, as long as it’s not discriminatory, but you have to be in a protected class, and having a criminal conviction is not part of being in the protected class,” Pierce said.
Despite not being part of a protected class, states like Texas are developing ways to prevent former felons from being instantly rejected by prospective employers.
“I did find out what was interesting about Texas: when it comes to getting hired for a job, employers are not allowed to search more than seven years into your past to see if you have felony convictions,” Pierce said.
Pierce views this as a positive trend to help rehabilitate convicted felons into the workforce.
“The federal government is doing this as a way to help rehabilitate and help people become employable. The thought behind that is don’t hold people’s mistakes from a long time ago against them now,” Pierce said.
But when it comes to these mistakes, jobs aren’t all that a felon can lose. When convicted, individuals with criminal indictments officially lose certain rights, along with some particular to the type of offense.
“You’re going to still be on probation, and that might restrict your ability to travel.” white-collar defense attorney Matthew Nielsen said. “But really, where that comes up is there are several countries that will not allow someone who has been convicted of a felony to enter the country.”
Trump has also stated that he opposes requiring background checks and restricting access to guns, restrictions that he is limited by.
“You’re going to very likely lose the right to use a firearm. Let’s say that there’s a job that may require you to carry a firearm. My guess is if you have a felony conviction, you’re probably going to have a tough time getting it,” Nielsen said.
But there is a way for these rights to be returned, and it comes down to the president.
“A full pardon is as if the conviction never occurred, and all of your rights would be restored because you would not be viewed as a convicted felon at that point,” Nielsen said. “That’s one way to reinstate rights that go away based on a final felony conviction. And some of that came up during President Trump’s, the end of his term.”
And so that brings up the question that has never been answered: whether a president can pardon themselves.
“You know you can actually pardon yourself before a conviction? You can basically immunize somebody for particular conduct, and he did not do that. He could have tried to do it and challenged it that way, but he chose not to do that.” Nielsen said. “But then the question is going to be if he is elected, could he do it now?” Nielsen said.
And without any relevant example to be taken from history, it is an open question for experts to argue.
“There’s legal scholars that would say that a president cannot pardon themselves, and there’s probably just as many that would say there’s nothing in the Constitution that restricts who a president can pardon,” Nielsen said.
Some people believe Trump’s jurisdiction was partial. According to the Chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party, Lieutenant Colonel Allen West, Trump’s conviction was an arbitrary situation.
“I find it very interesting that you had someone who is the sitting president of the United States of America was guilty of having classified information that he was not authorized to have as a U.S. senator and also vice president,” Col. West said.
Col. West believes that there was a conflict of interest within the court, adding to the weight of the sentence.
“And for whatever reason, it was extended. It was normally a misdemeanor. So I think that we have seen a dual standard,” Col. West said. “We have seen an incredible hypocrisy in the execution of the rule of law.”
Col. West had said he still thinks that, like employers looking to hire former felons, the goal should be to benefit what they work for rather than focusing on their past.
“The most important thing is that people have to push aside and stop focusing on personality and focus on principles and policy.” Col. West said.
