Two conservative lawyers make a strong 14th Amendment argument. But the politics of their theory are very, very dicey.

FTA:

Two conservative legal scholars, members of the Federalist Society in good standing, have just published an audacious argument: that Donald Trump is constitutionally prohibited from running for president, and that state election officials have not only the authority but the legal obligation to prevent his name from appearing on the ballot.

The legal paper, authored by University of Chicago professor William Baude and University of St. Thomas professor Michael Stokes Paulsen, centers on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — a provision that limits people from returning to public office if they have since “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or “given aid or comfort” to those who have. Baude and Paulsen argue that this clearly covers Trump’s behavior between November 2020 and January 2021.

“The most politically explosive application of Section Three to the events of January 6, is at the same time the most straightforward,” Baude and Paulsen write. “Former President Donald J. Trump is constitutionally disqualified from again being President (or holding any other covered office) because of his role in the attempted overthrow of the 2020 election and the events leading to the January 6 attack.”

    • @whofearsthenight@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22•11 months ago

      I mean, given all of the other laws and such that he broke blatantly while in office, fuck no lol. Emoluments, Hatch act violations, the very obvious fact that either impeachment would have succeeded if republicans even pretended for a second to be principled and supported the constitution, etc.

      Just toss it on the pile.

    • @APassenger@lemmy.world
      14•11 months ago

      He’d need to be convicted. There would have to be a trial. For that, we’d need an indictment. I really wanted to think that would happen by now.

      • @ComradeKhoumrag@infosec.pub
        6•11 months ago

        The more time and research you put into an investigation, the more likely you are to succeed. The time constraint is going to trial before elections, but you also want to max out time to prepare

    • ɢᴜᴍᴅʀᴏᴘʙᴜɴɴɪᴇꜱEnglish
      13•11 months ago

      What worries me is that the majority of Americans DO think it matters. If anywhere near 51% of these cunts think he’d make a good “world leader” then the entire human population is fucked beyond belief (and they already let it happen once…)

    • @socsa@lemmy.ml
      13•11 months ago

      It will eventually. Incompetence and stupidity might not catch up with you immediately, but it’s like an immortal snail tirelessly pursuing you. Eventually it will always get you.

      • queermunist she/her
        10•11 months ago

        Idealism.

        There are, in fact, incompetent people that lived their whole lives facing zero consequences.

            • @NattyNatty2x4@beehaw.org
              5•11 months ago

              Looooot of people are emotionally invested in the idea of karma/people eventually getting what they deserve. It’s really uncomfortable for them to be told that the real world is littered with narcissists and assholes who live a full and fulfilling life, never seeing true consequences for their actions

              • queermunist she/her
                3•11 months ago

                It’s a cope. They need to believe in divine fairness in the world to feel like life has any meaning or is worth living. It’s the same reason people believe in an afterlife with divine reward and punishment or in a next life where their current life determines how they reincarnate in the cycle. If life is just random horrible bullshit and there is no justice and there is no point and it all comes down to luck, then what was it all for???

                I sympathize.

            • @stephen01king@lemmy.zipEnglish
              2•11 months ago

              I’m asking for one example of someone living their whole life with zero consequence, like you claimed.

              The original argument was not that there are no example of falling upwards, but that the consequence always come to bite them in the ass, even if it takes a while. You argued there are in fact people who lived their whole lives facing zero consequence for their actions, so that means it should be easy for you to show me one such example.