With Constitution Day landing on a Sunday, Hopkinsville Community College hosted an event on Tuesday where regional members of the justice system formed a panel discussing issues that might soon be considered under the Constitution and appellate court process.
The panel was made up by 56th District Judge Jamus Redd III, Judge Chris McNeil from the Kentucky Court of Appeals and retired Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham. The panel was moderated by attorney, retired political science professor and Hopkinsville Community College Donovan Scholar, Thomas Glover.
Glover says the questions being presented are questions that do not have a precedent or prior court rulings.
The panel addressed four questions and started with the question, “Can a president pardon themselves for crimes they allegedly committed?”
Redd says the issue has yet to be clearly addressed, but if he was on trial, he would not be able to simultaneously sit as a judge for his own trial.
Next, Glover posed the question, “Can a trial judge limit the speech of an indicted presidential candidate?”
Redd says a defendant’s speech can be limited if it hinders the trial saying for example a defendant might be advised to not talk to a co-defendant or the alleged victim of a case. Redd also applied this scenario to what former 45th President and Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump may be undergoing soon regarding investigations for the January 6, 2021 Capital riot.
Cunningham provided a personal example that occurred during his tenure as a judge surrounding a murder case that was set to go to trial in Lyon County. Before the case went to trial the Courier Journal ran a story about it which was then picked up by the Lyon County local newspaper.
Cunningham says the publication of the case hindered jury selection. In response to the Courier Journal, Cunningham says he requested for the records to be sealed, which led to the Courier Journal suing him.
Cunningham says he and the Courier Journal were able to resolve the issue and they agreed to hold off on further breaking the news of the case. Returning to the question, Cunningham says he is not sure how this would work for a defendant who is running for president with a national platform.