The 14th Amendment to the Constitution bans anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the U.S. from holding office.

A Florida lawyer is suing Donald Trump in an attempt to disqualify his current run for president. Lawrence A. Caplan’s Thursday lawsuit claims that the ex-president’s involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot would make him ineligible to run again, thanks to the Constitution’s 14th Amendment—a Civil War-era addition aimed at preventing those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the U.S. from holding office. “Now given that the facts seem to be crystal clear that Trump was involved to some extent in the insurrection that took place on January 6th, the sole remaining question is whether American jurists who swear an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution upon their entry to the bench, will choose to follow the letter of the Constitution in this case,” the lawsuit says, also citing Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Legal experts say it’s an uphill battle to argue in court, since the amendment has hardly been exercised in modern history. “Realistically, it’s not a Hail Mary, but it’s just tossing the ball up and hoping it lands in the right place,” Charles Zelden, a professor of history and legal studies at Nova Southeastern University, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

archive link to South Florida Sun Sentinel article: https://archive.ph/1BntD

  • NABDad@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    10 months ago

    He could just argue that he’s such an idiot he thought it was true despite the evidence.

    …except for statements about Pence being too honest which kind of show he knows he was trying to seize power illegally.

    • El Barto@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      10 months ago

      To reach that kind of level of Idiocy would be unthinkable, knowing that you have the power of a U.S. president.

        • El Barto@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          10 months ago

          My point is that it’s not idiocy. To be idiocy, it has to be extreme idiocy, and this is isn’t it.

          This guy is not surrounded by noobs. I’m sure he asked the right people whether the elections were legitimate, and he didn’t like the answer. Or he was just following a soviet-era book of rules handed over to him by who knows who. In either case, it’s not idiocy. It’s malice.