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Cake day: June 26th, 2023

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  • What he should have said is this:

    “On January 6, 2021 former President Donald Trump engaged in an insurrection against the United States. Under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution Section 3, Colorado, Maine, and every other State in the nation should permanently remove him from the ballot because he is disqualified from running for office. Sadly this action might actually endear him to his supporters even more, but it is still the right thing to do.”


  • There just needs to be due process to make it harder to abuse.

    I can see where you might think that. I previously thought the same. I don’t think so anymore.

    Because an insurrection against the government is fundamentally a criminal act, one would naturally think that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment would require a criminal conviction to apply. For most crimes you have to be convicted before there is a penalty. This is basic due process (which, BTW, is described in Section 1 of the 14th Amendment), however I don’t think that is the case here.

    Section 3 of the 14th Amendment reads as follows:

    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. (emphasis mine)

    Section 3 describes how participating in an insurrection will result in disqualification to hold office. It has no requirement for a criminal conviction. If a State believes that a person who previously took an oath to support the US Constitution engaged in an insurrection, then that person is disqualified from running for office. There is no due process requirement for disqualification due to age or citizenship, so there is no need for due process for any other disqualification.

    If Congress feels that the person should be allowed to run for office, they can remove the qualification disability with a two-thirds vote in both houses.

    The States can decide for themselves if Trump is disqualified, if Congress disagrees they alone have the ability to fix it.