Court arguments on blocking Trump from the presidential ballot under the ‘insurrection’ clause begin

girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to News@lemmy.world – 331 points – Court arguments on blocking Trump from the presidential ballot under the ‘insurrection’ clause begin
apnews.com

A weeklong hearing on one lawsuit to bar Trump from the ballot in Colorado begins Monday, while on Thursday oral arguments are scheduled before the Minnesota Supreme Court on an effort to kick the Republican former president off the ballot in that state.

Whether the judges keep Trump on the ballot or boot him, their rulings are likely to be swiftly appealed, eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court. The nation’s highest court has never ruled on the Civil War-era provision in the 14th Amendment that prohibits those who swore an oath to uphold the constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it from holding higher office.

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Even though the constitution says nothing about a conviction

That's actually the easiest argument there to counter. None of the politicians & officers of the Confederacy were convicted for insurrection, yet they were still barred from office.

"None of the members of Congress that gave aid or comfort to the participants of the Nov 6th riots have been barred from holding office, so it must not have been an insurrection." - Justice Thomas probably

It's the fact that we haven't held any of our elected officials accountable for their actions and words that will bite us in the ass.

"We haven't held anyone to account for their crimes so we cannot hold someone to account for their crimes"

What would prevent them from arguing that was improper, and thus invalid?

The fact that they don't even have to argue. They don't have to justify their decisions to anyone, really, since there's no oversight.

The same thing that prevents the Executive Branch from ignoring their rulings.

If they are going to play Calvinball, Biden should take a page from Andrew Jackson ask them how they plan on enforcing any of that.

I think that would be terribly dangerous for Thomas' continued freedom, with all the light being shined upon the bribes he's taken. He's still a Federal Officer & beholden to those laws despite his recent mouth-noises to the contrary.