States may move to keep Trump off the ballot based on 14th Amendment disqualification (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment:

There is a growing movement in some states to conclude that Trump is already disqualified under the 14th Amendment and they may remove him from the ballot. This would set-up legal challenges from Trump that could end up at the SCOTUS.

The 14A disqualification doesn’t have any procedural requirements, it simply says that a person that does those things can’t serve in those offices. It a state says it applies to Trump, it would then be on Trump to show that it didn’t (either because what he didn’t doesn’t amount to the prohibited conduct, or that president isn’t an “officer” as intended by the amendment).

States are in charge of the ballots and can make eligibility determinations that are subject to appeal - there is actually a fairly interesting body of cases over the years with ballot challenges in federal court.


More on the legal argument in favor of this:

The Sweep and Force of Section Three

Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment forbids holding office by former office holders who then participate in insurrection or rebellion. Because of a range

papers.ssrn.com

The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President Again

The only question is whether American citizens today can uphold that commitment.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[MT15]

In the ruling above (CO) the judge found that Trump did engage in an insurrection though, according to this:

 

[MT15]

Seeing more people pointing out that the CO decision is kinda a big deal in this way:

 

[Optimus Prime]

Speaking with MSNBC host Jen Psaki on Sunday afternoon, former Solicitor General Neal Katyal explained that a ruling by District Judge Sarah B. Wallace on Friday may have kept Donald Trump on the Colorado ballot for now but it could blow up on him at a later date.

Katyal was quick to note that Judge Wallace agreed with the petitioners that the former president took part in an insurrection at the end of his term but used a narrow interpretation to say he is not in violation of the 14th Amendment.

According to the legal analyst, the ruling was "the very worst decision Trump could get."

'If I were to put the headline on Friday, as an appeals lawyer, it would be this is the very worst decision Donald Trump could get from the trial court," he began. "Because it's going to go on appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court, perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court and there Trump is going to face extreme headwinds."

"And the reason for that is the fact — there's two parts," he continued. "There's a factual finding, that the judge said, which is Trump committed insurrection, and then there's a legal part that the 14th Amendment doesn't apply to the office of the presidency. On appeals, Jen, the factual findings get massive deference by the appeals court. It's almost impossible to overturn a trial judge's factual finding."............

MSN