Here's how 2 sentences in the Constitution rose from obscurity to ensnare Donald Trump
Here's how 2 sentences in the Constitution rose from obscurity to ensnare Donald Trump
Before the Capitol attack, even many constitutional lawyers rarely thought about Section 3, a provision that isn’t taught at most law schools.
It took months before the first mention of Section 3 in a public document. Free Speech For People, a Massachusetts-based liberal nonprofit, sent letters to top election officials in all 50 states in June 2021, warning them not to place Trump on the ballot should he run again in 2024 because he had violated the provision.
None of them took action, part of a general silence in reaction to the group’s arguments.
“People were just treating it as something that was not serious,” recalled John Bonifaz, the group’s co-founder.
By January 2022, the group decided to test Section 3 in court.
Looking for a lower-level defendant, Sherman’s organization zeroed in on Couy Griffin. The subject of one of the earliest Jan. 6 prosecutions, Griffin already has a rich legal record. He was was recorded in a restricted area of the U.S. Capitol as head of a group called Cowboys for Trump. Griffin was convicted of illegally entering the Capitol, but acquitted of engaging in disorderly conduct.
He still served as a commissioner in a rural New Mexico county, which kept CREW’s attention on him. On Sept. 6, 2022, a New Mexico judge ordered Griffin removed from his position. It was the first time in more than 100 years an official had been removed under Section 3. Griffin has appealed to the Supreme Court.
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Section 3: Disqualification from office for insurrection or rebellion
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
The question ultimately whether the President is an "officer of the US". Seeing as the President holds an office, I think they should be, but who knows what the current crop in the Supreme Court might twist things to.
That's not a question. The authors of the amendment unambiguously stated that they also meant rhe President. President Andrew Jackson, president at the time the 14th Amendment was ratified, explicitly referred to himself as either the “chief executive officer of the United States” or “chief civil executive officer of the United States.” He was referred to as the same during his impeachment.
Antonin Scalia also wrote in an opinion in 2014 that the President was an officer of the United States.
It's a bad faith argument with no merit. Of course, that doesn't mean the court won't agree with it, because the current SCOTUS is illegitimate and fully corrupt.
I honestly can't imagine how anyone could convince themselves that, if someone could go back and ask the authors of Section 3 if they thought it applied to the office of the president, that they would say, "No" . It's ridiculous to me that this is even something we're discussing.
ETA: Not disagreeing with you. Just complaining.
The president is the commander-in-chief of the military. That sounds pretty officer-y to me.
I'm pretty sure the military boys would agree.
Wait, since the military has its own law, if Trump somehow avoids justice (most likely by delaying until he could parden himself) could the Postmaster General arrest him and hand him over to the military for court martial? Sentenced and executed same afternoon?
The other issue is that the constitution does not put the exact words "support the constitution" in the presidential oath of office, and Trump took no other oath. He's argued the absence of those words is conspicuous, as all others - including the VP - are obligated to say them.
I think SCOTUS is hoping he chokes on a pork chop before March and doesn't have to make a ruling.
Well, there's also the part about not holding any office.
The Roberts Court makes a mockery of the law
The end is the most enlighting vs the legal losses:
With most jurisdictions dodging the questions at the heart of the case, it can create a misleading impression that things have gone well for the former president.
“The cases have gone poorly for Trump,” Derek Muller, a Notre Dame law professor who has followed the cases closely, wrote Friday in a blog post. “He lost on the merits in the only two jurisdictions that got to the merits, Colorado and Maine.”
He didn't lose Colorado. That judge may well have handed his ass to him.
She ruled that Trump factually engaged in insurrection. In our legal system, a higher court has to take that finding as fact. Her decision was getting appealed no matter what, so she threw a solid "fuck you" in there.
Everyone is just waiting for the Supreme Court.
I can see them waiting until after the election
Which will somehow rule that insurrection is ok, as long as Republicans do it.
That’s great in theory.
If the Supreme Court chooses to hear the case before the election.
The U.S. has had numerous elections in the past few years held with maps deemed to be unconstitutional because the courts either decided ‘too late’ or did not require those drawing the maps to adhere to a deadline.
In North Carolina, after the 2020 map was tossed, they used it anyway because the state republicans did not offer a new map. When they won big under the illegally gerrymandered map, which included changing the makeup of their state Supreme Court, they redrew the maps to be even more discriminatory - with no normal recourse for citizens to fix them. A federal panel adopted the issue last year, referring it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which despite hearing arguments 8 months ago has so far not issued a ruling.My confidence level in the rule of law is incredibly low right now.
His research was published eight days before the insurrection? This man is clearly a time traveler from a dystopian future who was sent back in time to stop Donald Trump.
Fucking AND‽
There's precedent now. 👍
Which means fuck all as it'll just get booted out by the GOP-held Supreme Court either before or especially after the walking talking shitstain is back in office.
It still needs to go to the supreme court.
Imagine if the American government had moved quickly and impeached and convicted trump and removed him from office in January 2021 immediately instead of just doing as liyyle as possible and waiting and hoping for the problem to fix itself by having private groups slowly try to bring court cases to SCOTUS.
Downvoted for clickbait.