{"id":2011713,"date":"2023-08-25T07:58:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T11:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-twisting-the-14th-amendment-to-get-trump-wont-hold-up-in-court\/"},"modified":"2023-08-25T08:01:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T12:01:10","slug":"why-twisting-the-14th-amendment-to-get-trump-wont-hold-up-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-twisting-the-14th-amendment-to-get-trump-wont-hold-up-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Invalidating Trump&#8217;s presidency through a distorted interpretation of the 14th Amendment lacks legal merit."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-twisting-the-14th-amendment-to-get-trump-wont-hold-up-in-court%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2011713&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2>Is Trump Constitutionally Disqualified from Serving as President?<\/h2>\n<p>Despite four \u200dindictments and two \u2064previous\u200d impeachments, Donald Trump remains a strong contender in the Republican primaries\u2063 and \u2063is even running equal with President Biden in some polls. However, a\u200b theory defended by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-twisting-the-14th-amendment-to-get-trump-wont-hold-up-in-court\/\" title=\"Invalidating Trump's presidency through a distorted interpretation of the 14th Amendment lacks legal merit.\">legal scholars suggests<\/a> that Trump\u2064 may be constitutionally disqualified from holding \u200bfederal office.<\/p>\n<p>According\u2064 to Professors Michael Paulsen and \u200bWill Baude, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution\u2063 would disqualify Trump from serving as president, even if he secures enough \u200belectoral votes to win the presidency. \u2062This theory has been seconded by former Judge Michael Luttig and Professor Laurence Tribe. While their interpretation of the Constitution&#8217;s insurrection clause \u200bseems correct,\u2062 they\u200d are mistaken \u2062in believing that\u200b anyone has \u2063the\u2062 right to strike Trump from the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, deals with the treatment of\u2063 former officials who engaged in insurrection \u200bor\u2064 rebellion against the United\u200d States. Although it was originally intended for Confederates, \u200dits text has continuing relevance to any future insurrection or rebellion.\u2063 This\u200c includes the\u2064 presidency, as other constitutional\u200d texts referring to \u2064&#8221;officers&#8221;\u2062 support this interpretation.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>No person \u200dshall be a\u2064 Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector\u2063 of President and\u2062 Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the \u200bUnited States, or under any\u2064 State,\u2062 who, having previously taken an oath, \u2064as \u200ca member of Congress, or as an officer of the\u200d United\u200d States, or as a member of any \u200dState legislature, \u2062or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the\u200c Constitution of the United States, \u200dshall have\u2063 engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the \u2063same, \u200dor given aid or comfort to \u2064the enemies thereof. But \u2064Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of \u2062each House, remove such disability.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The distinction\u2064 between &#8220;rebellion&#8221; and &#8220;insurrection&#8221; is important. In the\u2064 Prize Cases (1863), the Supreme Court defined insurrection as \u200dpolitical violence at\u2064 a level lower or less \u200borganized than an organized rebellion.\u2062 While \u200dsome argue\u2064 that Trump was\u200b an &#8220;insurrectionist,&#8221; there is no \u2063unanimous agreement among \u2063the\u200c American people. A CBS poll showed that\u2063 almost\u200d half \u200bof\u200d the respondents \u200brejected the claim \u200bthat the events of January \u20636 \u2063were\u2063 an\u200b actual insurrection.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the failure of\u200b the\u200c Justice Department to charge Trump\u200d with insurrection and the Senate&#8217;s acquittal in the second impeachment raise doubts\u200d about the academic \u200dtheory of\u2063 disqualification.\u2062 It is unfair to require Trump to prove his innocence without any definitive finding by\u2064 a federal authority.<\/p>\n<h3>The Electoral College Chooses Presidents, Not \u200bState \u2062Officials<\/h3>\n<p>If the academic view were correct, it would create chaos in our\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reports-president-trump-is-traveling-to-gettysburg-to-meet-with-gop-lawmakers\/\" title=\"Reports: President Trump Is Traveling to Gettysburg to Meet with GOP Lawmakers\">electoral system<\/a>. The\u2062 Electoral College system decentralizes the \u2062selection of the president,\u2063 with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/most-people-view-candidates-stance-on-abortion-as-key-voting-issue-poll\/\" title=\"Poll: Abortion stance crucial for majority of voters.\">state legislatures deciding<\/a>\u200c the manner for choosing electors. \u2063Allowing state officials to \u2062unilaterally find \u200dinsurrection\u200b and eliminate candidates for federal office goes against the principles\u200b of federalism and could potentially sway the outcome of a close race.<\/p>\n<p>Chief Justice John \u2062Marshall&#8217;s observation in McCullough v. Maryland that &#8220;the power to tax is the\u200b power to destroy&#8221; applies here. Allowing single state officials to decide the eligibility of candidates\u200b undermines the uniformity and national character that the\u2064 framers sought to ensure.<\/p>\n<h3>Congress Has\u2064 Other Means of Enforcement<\/h3>\n<p>Section\u2063 3 of the 14th Amendment provides means of enforcement, but it does not grant every official the power to \u200cenforce it.\u2064 Each \u2063branch of\u2064 the federal government can honor Section 3\u2063 in the \u2064course of executing its constitutional functions. Congress could pass a statute disqualifying insurrectionists from\u2063 office or establish a \u2062specialized tribunal for handling \u2063insurrection cases. Ultimately, federal\u2063 courts will\u200c have the final\u2064 say.<\/p>\n<p>While holding Trump accountable for his actions is important, it \u2062should not depend on warping our constitutional system. Prosecutors should\u2063 charge him with insurrection if\u200b they can prove it, and Congress should \u200ddisqualify him if they agree he committed the crime. Ultimately, the American people will \u2064decide Trump&#8217;s responsibility for the events\u2064 of January\u200d 6 at the ballot box in\u2064 the\u200c 2024 elections.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite four indictments and two previous impeachments, Donald Trump continues to lead in the Republican primaries and is even running neck and neck with President Biden in certain polls. However, a new theory supported by knowledgeable legal scholars suggests that Trump may be constitutionally ineligible for office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1601,"featured_media":2011714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2011713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1601"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2011713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2011714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2011713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2011713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2011713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}