Are members of Congress exempt from prosecution by the law?

[kentuck]

Can they be questioned under oath?

Can they be guilty of obstruction of justice?

Can they be guilty of perjury?

Are they subject to the same laws as the rest of us?

Just curious.

[elleng]

1. No.

Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.

[PoliticAverse]

2. No they are not exempt, but there are the following exceptions specified in the Constitution.

Last edited Fri Dec 15, 2017, 09:02 PM - Edit history (1)

They can't be arrested when they are on their way to attend congress.

They can't be prosecuted for anything they say during a session of congress.

Edited to add the exact phrasing from the Constitution:

They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

[NotASurfer]

3. Can that be right?

Say Senator X decides to detail exactly what they did to help Russia throw the election, with Trump's enthusiastic participation, during open session in Congress. Trump POed to the point of no pardon? Doesn't matter because Constitution?

[karynnj]

4. Nuance - they can't be arrested for what they said... but if they detailed things they did

years before, they can be investigated for that. I do not know if what they said could be used to prove what they did NOT ON THE FLOOR OF THE SENATE, but even if they can't certainly their speech would create a roadmap that could be followed to find admissable evidence.

[NotASurfer]

5. Devil, meet detail, again

But considering some of our representatives inability to grasp the Constitution it might be worth writing a letter or two of suggestion. Or putting it out there on alt-right blogs as a good idea and hoping they take the bait.

Nah...they can't be that dumb, can they?

[PoliticAverse]

6. This is known as the "speech or debate clause" of the Constitution. The specific wording is...

and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

For an extensive analysis of the clause see this 2012 Congressional Research Service paper (.pdf):
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42648.pdf