November 14, 2023

"A judge on Tuesday ruled Donald Trump can appear on the primary ballot in Michigan, delivering the latest setback..."

"... to those who contend Trump sparked an insurrection Jan. 6, 2021, and is barred from running for president again as a result... The case mirrors those in other states that contend Trump can’t run because of a provision of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment that bars officials from holding office if they engage in insurrection. State Judge James Robert Redford wrote that courts don’t have the authority to determine whether someone is eligible to run for office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. In addition, Redford ruled that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) does not have the authority under state law to remove candidates from the ballot based on that provision."

47 comments:

Gunner said...

I am shocked that the know-it-all formerly RINO/now full blown SJW lefty lawyers who thought this would work were wrong.

Mark said...

Most importantly, it is none of the government's damn business how the association of peoples that is a private political party selects its nominees.

MadisonMan said...

Let voters decide: A concept that is 100% at odds with what the Democratic Party thinks.

Dave Begley said...

This is more of the continued lawfare against Trump and conservatives.

Michael said...

There was no insurrection.

Leland said...

On top of the court’s decision, can someone tell me if the 14th Amendment eliminated due process? It is really just sufficient to claim Trump is an insurrectionist and not actually try that charge before deciding punishment?

Mason G said...

You can stick your fingers in your ears and shout "Insurrection!" over and over and over again, but that doesn't make it one.

Just sayin'.

rcocean said...

How was J6 an "Insurrection" Like the Civil war? And how a POTUS trying to get congress to legally seat a different set of electors is somehow illegal.

Please explain. Or is this just a case of "lawfare" and logic and reason don't apply?

PS. Has the WaPo done a "factcheck"?

Michael K said...

Oh well. They have other states with leftist judges.

Quaestor said...

What insurrection?

Jupiter said...

Jocelyn Benson is a walking crime. When she's sober.

Mary Beth said...

Deciding someone engaged in an insurrection without there being charges and a conviction in court or without them doing something really obvious like declaring war on the US, seems like a bad idea.

The people pushing for it must be convinced they will always be on the side that is in power. Who would try to put these tools out there unless they are sure the wheel has stopped turning?

n.n said...

A constitution, from conception. A witch hunt, less than viable... em-pathetic.

Joe Smith said...

Not sure whey SCOTUS doesn't preemptively issue some sort of statement.

No conviction for insurrection? Fuck off.

I know they don't work that way, but these are unusual times...

MayBee said...

But we need him off the ballot to protect our democracy!!!

MayBee said...

The Michigan Supreme Court also spared Michigan from Gretchen Witmer's continued assaults on seed-buyers and people with two homes in the state. So I like the SCMI

BUMBLE BEE said...

LOOKOUT!

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/11/jay-valentine-when-citizens-have-better-computer-technology/

Fascinating analysis.

Kevin said...

In addition, Redford ruled that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) does not have the authority under state law to remove candidates from the ballot based on that provision.

Next up: A ballot printing error with no time to correct!

Dixcus said...

3D chess:

The judges are setting the precedent that THEY decide who WE can put up as OUR candidate.

OK Sure, we'll let you have Trump this time, because of course they're going to assassinate him anyway. Then put his naked dead body in a room full of naked kids. You know, so you can't object.

But now the PRECEDENT is set: Judges will decide who our candidates are going forward.

Jamie said...

Meanwhile over on Turley's blog, he has a post about Trump supporters' fantasies about making a citizen's arrest of the judge or Letitia James in NY.

I will vote for Trump in the general. I thought he governed far better than I expected him to and voted for him in 2020. I believe the 2020 election was rigged in advance in all the ways we discuss here all the time. I wish he weren't the top Republican candidate at present, but here we are.

And I want my fellow potential 2024 Trump voters not to do dumb things.

robother said...

I would have thought this the only possible outcome for all these State proceedings. (Not having 50 different determinations of what is a rebellion and leading it under the 14th Amendment is what the Supremacy Clause is for.) The fact that a State district court judge in Colorado's case is proceeding to hear evidence on the "insurrection" and Trump's inciting of it is a travesty. I would have thought the SCOTUS invalidation of State term limits for US Congress had made that clear.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Donald Trump is haunting the democrats. He’s the ghost nobody can bust.

Lucien said...

These cases only matter in states where Trump has a chance to win, right? In DC or CA the electoral votes will go to Democrats anyway, so keeping Trump off the ballot would only give him appeal rights.

Mr Wibble said...

Next up: A ballot printing error with no time to correct!
-----

I fully expect some state to print off 100k mail-in ballots right before the election with Trump not on them.

mishu said...

The lockdowns were much closer to an insurrection than January 6th.

Narayanan said...

was standing acknowledged by SCMI earlier for Trump challenge supporters to 2020? was there such a challenge?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The entire leftist democrat machine is corrupt.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

J6 was mostly feds.

the left have corrupted our vote.

Quaestor said...

"But we need him off the ballot to protect our democracy!!!"

Democracy, as in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. When Democrats speak of "our democracy" the pronoun doesn't include anyone but themselves. This is deliberate obfuscation of their totalitarian methods and goals.

Josephbleau said...

“But now the PRECEDENT is set: Judges will decide who our candidates are going forward.”

And sassinachs the lot of them! Who will reclaim the power of the church and with it its associated people. The constitution is only an agreement with no one, brother. If all are empowered then no one is. It is to us you will look to herd you into a life you will find servitude in and the resulting peace. Give to all, that gives to yourself the grace of poverty, brother, if you are poor let us provide, if you are rich let us unburden you.

Nehemiah Scudder, First Prophet. RAH.

Goldenpause said...

The left should stick to rigging elections the old fashioned way: stuffing the ballot box.

tim maguire said...

A good result, but these cases are clearly frivolous. The plaintiffs should be charged with all costs of the defendant and the court and their lawyers should be sanctioned.

boatbuilder said...

Why isn't Trump's acquittal in the second impeachment conclusive (as a legal matter) on the issue of whether he "engaged in insurrection?"

He was tried and acquitted. Democrats might not like it, but that is what happened. You took your shot and lost.

Cappy said...

Good to see Robert Redford finally got an honest job.

West TX Intermediate Crude said...

Lucien said...
These cases only matter in states where Trump has a chance to win, right? In DC or CA the electoral votes will go to Democrats anyway, so keeping Trump off the ballot would only give him appeal rights.


Even in CA or NY or NJ, if DJT is kept off the ballot, conservative voters might decide it's not worth voting. This could hurt Rs downballot. It also gives aid and comfort to the enemy.

Mark said...

So, on the one hand, Trump insists that he be on the primary ballot, that the people have a right to vote for whom they want.

At the same time, Trump is insisting that all his rivals effectively be removed from the primary ballot, that they all drop out or the Party eliminate them so that the people not have a say on who the nominee is.

Rich said...

The Constitution is pretty clear; the Insurrection Clause doesn’t forbid an insurrectionist from running for office, nor does it forbid a political party from nominating an insurrectionist. Therefore, a challenge to the process of nominating an insurrectionist will always fail.

What the Constitution does do is prevent an insurrectionist from holding any elective office, meaning the time to pursue the legal battle will come if, and only if, Trump is elected.

Robert Cook said...

"There was no insurrection."

That's because it was an inept shambles and was easily put down.

The motley mobs clogging Washington that day was comprised of a core of halfwits who did probably did think they were carrying out an insurrection, despite having no real plan of action other than "show up and break shit." Given their belief that Trump had achieved great things, (based primarily on his say-so), they (il)logically thought mounting an insurrection would be successful with a minimum of planning, preparation and coordinated execution. More to the point, they probably assumed they just had to create sufficient disorder for Trump to appear and take control, asserting his role as President, voiding Biden's claimed victory.

The larger mass were like the attendees at a pro-wrestling exhibition: they just were just there to watch the make-believe hullaballoo for whatever cheap thrills it might offer.

Drago said...

VA Lawyer Mark: At the same time, Trump is insisting that all his rivals effectively be removed from the primary ballot,..."

Uh, no.

I would expect a lawyer to be better able to accurately capture the argument being put forward.

VA Lawyer Mark continues: "...that they all drop out or the Party eliminate them so that the people not have a say on who the nominee is."

That make believe "or" clause jumps the shark completely.

Trump's commanding lead in the polls is utterly unprecedented in the modern era and, given all the active political circumstances, Trump is more than justified in calling for party unification behind the candidate that is vastly far ahead and, according to those same polls, best positioned to defeat Biden (though we know the GOPe/dem alliance will figure out a way to take Trump out...permanently).

If this scenario bothers you that much, go organize a fundraiser for your candidate...DeSantis wasn't it?

He could use the help now that he has fallen to 4th (4th!) In New Hampshire polling and has lost multiple major fundraisers...which is where he gets the vast majority of his funding since the republican grass roots arent buying into his message...and never really have which is why he had to get his advisor Jeff Roe at Never Back Down PAC to execute that early campaign trickeration of transferring the $90M from the DeSantis Gov reelection fund to the DeSantis presidential campaign...which angered many in the grassroots that donated to DeSantis-The-Gov-Campaign but would never have donated had they known their funds would be used against Trump.

Just one of many egregious DeSantis inside the beltway campaign advisor screwups.

Mason G said...

VA Lawyer Mark: At the same time, Trump is insisting that all his rivals effectively be removed from the primary ballot,..."

Uh, no.

I would expect a lawyer to be better able to accurately capture the argument being put forward.


You'd think, wouldn't you?

Equating Trump insisting that his rivals be removed from the ballot with a judge ruling that he be removed is a rather silly comparison. Those things are not equal and Trump no doubt knows that. He also recognizes that talking about this winds up the Stupid People, who will expend lots of effort to spread their silly equivalency. Of course, the idiots will all clap their hands in glee and spread that message which will also reach normal people who, although they may not follow Trump regularly, will understand that using courts to negate the will of the people is a bad thing and act accordingly.

Zach said...

I'm greatly relieved by this ruling.

Courts ruling candidates ineligible on the basis of dubious authority is not something I want to start doing in this country.

Zach said...

I would also like to point out that the only people this clause refers to were members of the Confederacy. The 14th Amendment was part of a comprehensive peace agreement that ended the Civil War, and part of the agreement was that Confederate veterans and office holders would go home peacefully "not to be disturbed by the United States authority as long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside."

https://www.nps.gov/apco/learn/historyculture/surrender-documents.htm

"Insurrection" is undefined, because in 1866 it was blindingly obvious what it referred to.

Alexisa said...

That's unfortunate. The Left failed implement their Banana Republic Gambit but will still take the blame for trying.

They shot at the king and missed.

Now hell follows.

If you're registered Democrat I advise you switch to something else while you still can. Little Eichmanns will hang beside Gestapo. I'm tired of you little s**** enabling this crap by pretending you don't know what's going on.

Alexisa said...

I see Robert Cook is still an idiot.

If we had planned an insurrection we would have brought weapons, you maroon.

Shoot me your address, I promise if we ever do hold an instruction you'll be one of the first to know

Alexisa said...

"Just one of many egregious DeSantis inside the beltway campaign advisor screwups."

Yup. Right now Team DeSantis is having to poll test assertions that Platforms is not really that short. Top men.

Cappy said...

Ain't democracy just awful?

Rusty said...

Drago said...
"VA Lawyer Mark: At the same time, Trump is insisting that all his rivals effectively be removed from the primary ballot,..."
Mark is a lawyer? Wow. Go figure.