Some on the right and left have claimed that former President Trump could be disqualified from the 2024 presidential ballot.
Some legal experts dismissed the theory as not only implausible but potentially dangerous.
The legal theory states that Trump could be barred from the polls because Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution — the Disqualification Clause — bars individuals who “have engaged in rebellion or sedition” against America, or aided those engaged in such, from hold a position.
The section also includes a provision allowing Congress to “remove such defects” by a “two-thirds vote” in each house.
However, the argument for the Disqualification Clause does not hold up, according to some legal experts.
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said there are “good faith arguments supporting this claim” but he sees the theory as “not just dubious but dangerous.”
“The amendment was written to address those who were involved in the actual insurgency that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths,” Turley said. “Defense counsel will extend the reference to ‘insurrection or insurrection’ to include unsupported claims and challenges involving electoral fraud.”
Turley said he has long been critical of Trump’s Jan. 6 speech, but he saw the violence at the Capitol that day as “a protest that turned into a riot.” That definition would be essential to applying the 14th Amendment, according to Turley, and Trump has not been found guilty of rebellion or incitement to rebellion.
Former President Donald Trump could be barred from the ballot because of the Disqualification Clause.AP
“According to these supporters, Trump can be barred from the polls without any charges, let alone convictions, rebellion or insurrection,” Turley said.
Turley said supporters “also argue that no action is required from Congress” and therefore, “state and federal judges can only restrain those deemed to support the insurgency through their election challenges and demands.”
Heritage Foundation senior legal partner Hans von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital that he thinks there is no legal reason to prevent Trump from voting through the 14th Amendment.
Von Spakovsky said that liberals are making the same argument against some conservatives ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, citing the January 6 Riots.
Law professor Jonathan Turley said there were “good faith arguments supporting this claim” but he saw the theory as “not merely dubious but dangerous.” Getty Images
“They all didn’t make it,” said Von Spakovsky. “And every discussion I’ve seen on this point ignores the fact that no one has ever mentioned that they’re talking about Section 3 of the 14th Amendment as if it exists right now.”
Von Spakovsky notes the two-thirds vote provision that allows Congress to “remove such disability” under the Disqualification Clause and argues that the legislature has removed the clause.
“In 1872, they passed . . . The Amnesty Act, and it eliminated Section three disqualifications, with certain exceptions, including anyone who had served in two of the Congresses before the Civil War, and military personnel, for example, who had been in the Union Army and had served with the Confederacy,” said Von Spakovsky.
“In 1898, Congress passed a second amnesty act that completely eliminated all of those exemptions,” he added. “So the Disqualification Clause, it’s gone. It is no longer valid.”
Photo of former President Donald Trump and 18 people charged with him via REUTERS
Push to prevent Trump from getting votes
However, despite any challenges, some legal scholars say there are ways to keep Trump off the ballot, and the idea continues to gain traction.
Center for American Progress Action Fund senior fellow Michael Sozan told Fox News Digital, “This cannot be a partisan issue.”
“According to the plain language of the Constitution, Donald Trump and other officials involved in the January 6 uprising are disqualified from holding future public office,” Sozan said. “This conclusion is supported by a wide range of respected constitutional law experts – across the ideological spectrum.”
“There are various paths to implement Section 3 of the 14th Amendment officially. The easiest way is for state election officials to disqualify Trump from appearing on their state ballots. No doubt, this will be challenged in court — but if Supreme Court justices were serious about using the clear words of the Constitution, they would agree to the disqualification.”
Two supporters of former President Donald Trump hold signs reading SAVE AMERICA 2024 and TRUMP 2024 as a large group of Trump supporters gather at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.ZUMAPRESS.com
However, even if efforts to get Trump off the ballot begin, there is no guarantee they will succeed, according to Fox News contributor and former deputy independent counsel Sol Wisenberg.
Wisenberg told Fox News Digital that “there are legal avenues for states to TRY to get Trump off the ballot,” but he believes “it will fail.”
Six of the eight Republican presidential candidates on the debate stage indicated they would support Trump as their party’s 2024 White House nominee.REUTERS
“I think the issue will end up in federal court, because it’s likely that at least one Democratic state official will make a determination to get Trump off the ballot,” Wisenberg said. “I believe the case will reach the US Supreme Court very quickly.”
“I expect the Court to rule that a Presidential candidate cannot be removed from the Presidential ballot without: 1) some sort of enabling law passed by Congress that establishes a judicial process to determine whether the candidate has engaged in rebellion or insurrection; and 2) an actual trial under that law,” Wisenberg continued.
“There is already a statute like that, which is established. It is Title 18 of the US Code, Section 2383, which covers rebellion or insurrection,” he added.
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Title 18, Section 2383 of the US Code says that whoever “incites, abets, aids, or engages in any insurrection or rebellion against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or to imprisonment for not more than ten years, or to both; and shall not hold any office under the United States.”
Some states are looking at calls to ban Trump from the ballot, but it’s unlikely the proposal will be taken up.
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said in a podcast this week that the state Supreme Court ruled “there is no due process in federal law to enforce Section 3 of the 14th amendment” and that “you can’t enforce it.”
“That’s what the Arizona Supreme Court said, so that’s the state of the law in Arizona. Now, do I agree with that? No, that’s stupid,” Fontes said, noting that he would “follow the law” in Arizona, even if he didn’t agree with it.
Additionally, despite being an outspoken GOP critic of former President Donald Trump, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu — along with other state party officials — has distanced himself from long-term efforts to keep Trump out of the presidential race.
Bryant “Corky” Messner, a lawyer and prominent Republican who won the 2020 Republican Senate nomination, thanks in large part to Trump’s support, is considering a lawsuit if Trump later this year files to put his name on the New Hampshire Primary ballot.
Messner publicly questioned the former president’s eligibility to run for the White House, citing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
That section disqualifies those who have taken an oath to support the Constitution from holding office again if they have “engaged in rebellion or insurrection” against the US “or given aid or comfort to its enemies.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
