Since 1973, the United States has espoused a policy affording immunity from criminal prosecution to sitting U.S. presidents while in office.1 The main reason behind this policy, according to the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), is the concern that the executive powers granted to the president via the Constitution would be impermissibly undermined if the President were subjected to criminal indictment, prosecution, or incarceration during his term in office.2 Incarceration of a president during his term would make it physically impossible for the president to fulfill his official, constitutionally assigned duties.3 Further, even if a prosecution did not result in incarceration, the DOJ posits that the public stigma and shame that attaches to an individual after implication with criminal proceedings would inhibit a president's success in foreign and domestic affairs.4 The result would be harm to the United States at large.5 Finally, the DOJ recognizes the mental and physical burdens that accompany preparation for a criminal trial. If a sitting president were indicted, he would have to bare this burden in his personal capacity, preventing him from fulfilling his constitutionally proscribed duties with the vigor and devotion that the prestigious position deserves.6
The DOJ has not yet had the opportunity to apply its policy on criminal prosecution before impeachment. This is due to the fortunate fact that no president has been criminally indicted while in *210 office since the DOJ policy was announced in 1973.7 However, the DOJ publicly reaffirmed its position in a memorandum from the Attorney General in the year 2000.8
