Will Senator Stevens be treated differently?
Its not surprising that there is a lot of discussion about the conviction of Sen. Ted Stevens. He's generated a lot of it, by taking the offensive and refusing to accept the verdict. Despite requests to resign, he kept his name on the ballot, and insisted he has not been convicted. The voters apparently weren't too concerned, as he was re-elected with a convincing margin. the big question now is how long can he keep his seat.
The answer to that question depends in part on whether he has actually been convicted yet A criminal conviction generally involves two things - a judgment and sentence. Right now Sen. Stevens has been convicted, but not sentenced. So currently there is not a final conviction. Once he is sentenced though, what happens?
There is no doubt he will appeal, and it doesn't look like he is going to lack for issues. At the top will be the juror who was excused after lying about her father's death.
Under the federal sentencing guidelines, he's sure to get penitentiary time; to stay out, he will have to get an appeal bond, which is not automatic in federal court. To obtain an appeal bond, you have to convince the court that there is good chance your appeal is going to be successful. His status as a United States Senator is not supposed to be a factor, but it would be hard to ignore. It certainly worked for Wesley Snipes, who was allowed to stay out while he appealed his conviction.
Whether or not he keeps his seat may depend on whether he stays out - obviously he can't serve if he is in jail. The question will be what happens if he stays out - he will have a conviction, but in most situations it is not considered a final conviction because there is always the chance it could be reversed on appeal. Ultimately it will be up to Congress - although he's been in a long time, it probably isn't going to help that the Democrats took control.
The answer to the question is that he probably will be treated differently. But then, would he have been prosecuted if he had been anyone else?
A few of the posts on this issue are collected at Sentencing Law and Policy.
