#Politics Decided to revisit the 14th Amendment in totality, not just Section 3. You find some interesting things ...
* Section 1 says that no State shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Could this be an end-run around the argument excluding #Trump from the ballot is a State issue? As a citizen of the U.S., I should enjoy equal protection from an insurrectionist on the ballot? Rhetorical question ... (1/x)
* Section 2 talks about the formula for allocating House seats to each state, "excluding Indians not taxed." 😳 The formula applies only to counting "the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State." 😳 😳 It also denies the right to vote for federal offices "for participation in rebellion." Could that disqualify #Trump and the #J6 insurrectionists from voting? Rhetorical question ... (2/x)
* My main curiosity about Section 3 was the use of "shall." "Shall" in legalese generally means a mandatory obligation or duty.
If I were arguing before #SCOTUS to bar #Trump from the ballot, I'd consider arguing that SCOTUS had mandatory obligation or duty. It's not optional, for a State or for SCOTUS. If you as a judge believe Trump participated in insurrection, then you must bar him from the ballot -- and under Section 1, bar him in all States.
But I'm not an expert ... (3/x)
* Section 4 basically says that the U.S. doesn't have to pay Confederate war debt, nor does the U.S. have to compensate slave owners for the emancipation of their slaves.
* Section 5: "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."
Hmmm ... Will this be the #SCOTUS off ramp? They may interpret S5 as meaning that only Congress may bar #Trump.
Anyway, all this is my armchair pundit reaction to the 14th Amendment. (4/4)
@WordsmithFL #politics
My decidedly uneducated opinion on Section 5 is
a. They have abdicated their power the past 150ish years,
b. Under sec 3 they can remove this disability by vote of 2/3rds of each house.