Trump Disqualified in Colorado

89th · 29 Dec 2023, 15:59

@Jolly said in Trump Disqualified in Colorado:

Power. POWER. POWER!

That is Trump's motivation, you're right!

George K · wrote on 29 Dec 2023, 15:46

Ilya Somin:

https://reason.com/volokh/2023/12/28/maine-and-michigan-issue-rulings-on-trump-and-section-3-disqualification/

Over the last two days, the states of Maine and Michigan have issued rulings on challenges to Donald Trump's eligibility to run for the presidency, under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (a Democrat) ruled that Trump is disqualified from being a candidate in the state's GOP presidential primary. Meanwhile, the Michigan Supreme Court refused to reconsider lower court rulings holding that Trump cannot be removed from the state's primary ballot because state law doesn't require primary candidates to be legally eligible for the office they seek election to.

The Maine decision is the more significant of the two, because it actually reaches the merits of the Section 3 issue. Secretary Bellows' ruling is similar to the recent Colorado Supreme Court decision on the same subject. Like the Colorado court, Bellows concludes that the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol was an insurrection (an easy call, in my view), that Trump's activities amounted to "engaging" in that insurrection (I think this is the hardest issue at stake), that the president is an "officer of the United States" covered by Section 3 (another easy issue), that Trump's activities were not protected by the First Amendment, and that Section 3 is "self-executing" and thus states can enforce it without additional congressional legislation. Like the Colorado Supreme Court, Bellows also concludes that the laws of her state require candidates whose names appear on primary ballots to be eligible for the office they seek.

I won't review Bellows' reasoning in detail. But, as already noted, it is largely similar to that of the Colorado Supreme Court decision, which I analyzed at some length here. I think the Colorado ruling is correct, and therefore Bellows' decision is sound, as well. As Bellows notes, her ruling is subject to review by state courts and—ultimately—the US Supreme Court.

...

I did a more detailed overview of the legal, moral, and political issues at stake in the Section 3 litigation in this article. In a more recent post, I explained why Section 3 disqualification doesn't require a prior criminal conviction for insurrection.

Critics of Somin's reasoning argue that article 5 of the 14 amendment explicitly states that enforcement is a matter for Congress, not the states.

The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Mik · wrote on 29 Dec 2023, 15:58

They never learn that the way to fight him is not to fight him.

Jolly · 8 89th 29 Dec 2023, 15:42

@89th said in Trump Disqualified in Colorado:

@Jolly said in Trump Disqualified in Colorado:

Power. POWER. POWER!

That is Trump's motivation, you're right!

Be off with you, Biden-boy!

89th · wrote on 29 Dec 2023, 16:07

LOL I do not like Biden. He shuffles around like a lost patient in a public gym locker room looking for the nearest hair dryer. But if he loses in the election, he'll at least take the loss like a man instead of a whiny 3rd grader making up stories and refusing to accept the results.

Jolly · 29 Dec 2023, 19:31

Hell, he lost last time, until Trump couldn't beat the cheat.

Renauda · J Jolly 29 Dec 2023, 19:01

@Jolly

Hell, he lost last time, until Trump couldn't beat the cheat.

You can keep saying that all you want. Doesn’t mean that it’s true or anyone here of any consequence even believes the coffee and donut shop gossip you preach.