Something of a garden industry has developed on the fringe and mouthbreathing left that is seeking to harass any GOP incumbent who didn’t literally besh** themselves over the demonstrations in and around the US Capitol on January 6. They attempt to use Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to disqualify candidates from office by claiming against all empirical evidence that an “insurrection” took place.
A Senator, Representative, and elector of President or Vice-President shall not be allowed to hold office under the United States or any State. This may be removed by Congress if two-thirds of the House votes so.
Two Republicans were targeted so far: Madison Cawthorn, NC-11 and Marjorie Taylor Greene, GA-14. However, the outcomes are quite different. A federal judge ruled on March 4 that Cawthorn’s attempt to stop him must fail due to a general amnesty, which was passed in Congress 1872. An Obama judge in Georgia granted Taylor Greene’s challenge permission Monday. (See Judge Rules Group of Georgia Voters May Proceed with Case to Disqualify Marjorie Taylor Greene From the Office).
These people are either profoundly ignorant, dishonest or a combination of both.
Confederate officers, members of Confederate state legislatures and legislators were specifically targeted by the 14th Amendment to stop them being seated at the House or Senate when their states are readmitted into the Union. It doesn’t stop them from running for office; it prevents them from serving. More to the point, no “insurrection” took place on January 6. Literally, no one with misdemeanor Trespassing Tickets who were held without bail over the last year is being charged with insurrection. Had an insurrection taken place, the plain text of the Constitutional language our homegrown Bolsheviks are using to try and force from office people they can’t defeat at the ballot box would have already forced Cawthorn and Taylor Greene from office. I mean, they ARE representatives, and the Constitution says they CAN’T be if they have engaged in insurrection.
But don’t take my word for it; even liberal law professors are starting to laugh in their sleeve at the issue and the people pushing it.
In a New York Times op-ed titled Only the Feds Could Disqualify Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Josh Blackman A South Texas College of Law professor of constitutional law Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology associate professor, looks at the topic and concludes that efforts to prevent candidates from running are futile, as the Supreme Court has already made a ruling on the subject.
Hugh W. Sheffey’s case from 1869 is a good example for how Jan. 6 might be viewed by courts today. He took an oath of support for the Constitution, but later served as Confederate Virginia’s legislator and actively supported the Confederacy.
He was appointed a judge to the state courts after the war. Judge Sheffey presided at Caesar Griffin’s conviction for shooting with intent to kill. In federal court, Griffin later challenged Griffin’s conviction. He claimed that Section 3 should have barred Mr. Sheffey’s ability to serve as a judge. Griffin’s case, as it is known, was heard on appeal by the federal circuit court in Virginia. The appeal was presided over by Salmon P. Chase (chief justice of the United States, an appointee to President Abraham Lincoln). Chief Justice Chase ruled against Mr. Griffin, finding that Section 3 did not disqualify Judge Sheffey, despite the fact that he had taken an oath to support the U.S. Constitution and that it was “admitted,” as the case stated, that he later committed a Section 3 disqualifying offense.
Chief Justice Chase reasoned “that legislation by Congress is necessary to give effect to” Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — and that “only” Congress can enact that legislation. Chief Justice Chase added that the exclusion of disqualified office holders “can only be provided for by Congress.” Congress must create the procedure that would determine if a defendant violated Section 3. Section 5 of the 14th Amendment emphasizes this principle: Congress, it states, “shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”
In short, Griffin’s case teaches that in legal terms, Section 3 is not self-executing — that is, Congress must establish, or at least authorize, the process that affords accused insurrectionists an opportunity to contest the allegations brought against them.
As I mentioned above, the Constitutional provision does not prohibit a candidate running for Congress. This provision prohibits them holding the office.
This is all bullsh**. Cawthorn, Taylor Greene and other freshmen Congress members have been targeted as they are untrained loose cannons and hail from bulletproof districts. Taylor Greene’s GA-14 is GOP+45, and Cawthorn’s NC-11 is GOP+14. This is also a tactic to call the GOP the party of rebellion. Although this tactic is dishonest, it may succeed in creating the media narrative that the GOP has dominated the judiciary and insurrectionists are seated there.
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