XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.usa.constitution, sac.politics XPost: talk.politics.guns

On 22 Apr 2023, Postun <nowomr@protonmail.com> posted some news:u228sd$3lgdm$3@dont-email.me:

Obama is the criminal. Hang him and his ugly tranny "wife" from a
lightpole.

Innocent until proven guilty. That’s a fundamental right in America, at
least until now.

Anti-Trump groups determined to disqualify the leading Republican
candidate for president are urging state election officials across
America to remove Donald Trump from the ballot, claiming he’s an “insurrectionist.”

They’re citing an arcane clause in the 14th Amendment, written after the
Civil War, that disqualified anyone who “engaged in insurrection against
the United States” from holding public office.

Here’s the hitch. Trump has never been convicted of insurrection, and
none of his prosecutors — not special counsel Jack Smith nor Georgia’s
Fani Willis — is charging him with insurrection.

The House of Representatives impeached him, accusing him of
insurrection, but he was acquitted.

So: 0 convictions, 1 acquittal.

Even so, the left-wing group Free Speech For People has sent letters to
state election officials, including the New York State Board of
Elections co-chairs, labeling Trump an insurrectionist and telling these officials they have a duty to remove him from the ballot, just as they
would be obligated to remove any presidential aspirant who had not
reached the age of 35 or was not a natural-born citizen.

Under this scheme, if Trump wants to be on the ballot, he’ll have to go
to court and prove his innocence.

In short, guilty until proven innocent. That’s as un-American as it
gets.

Whether you like Trump or loathe him, you should be concerned.

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley calls it “the
single most dangerous constitutional theory I’ve seen in decades.”

The ploy could also produce chaos in November and December, as states
preparing for the upcoming presidential primaries deal with lawsuits
over Trump’s presence on the ballot.

New Hampshire’s secretary of state and attorney general issued a joint statement last week saying they are “carefully reviewing the legal
issues involved.”

Ultimately, any attempt to remove Trump from the ballot would rocket up
to the US Supreme Court.

Free Speech For People President John Bonifaz has worked closely with
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the lead manager in Trump’s second
impeachment trial in 2021.

Raskin and Democrats failed to convict Trump then. Resorting to the “insurrection clause” is a ploy to get what they failed to achieve constitutionally.

Anti-Trumpers on the right are also willing to label Trump an
“insurrectionist” without legal proof and deem him disqualified.

Asa Hutchinson said as much on the Republican debate stage in Milwaukee
last month.

The “insurrection clause” was added to the Constitution during
Reconstruction, right after the Civil War, to disqualify Confederate officeholders and military leaders.

But the clause became a dead letter when Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase,
who rode circuit and decided appeals court cases as well, ruled in
1869’s In re Griffin that Section 3 by itself could not disqualify
anyone from office.

Chase’s ruling remains federal precedent.

Free Speech For People and other anti-Trumpers point to a forthcoming University of Pennsylvania Law Review article arguing the chief
justice’s ruling was wrong.

Harvard Law emeritus professor Laurence Tribe also calls Chase’s opinion “poorly reasoned.”

That’s the ivory-tower crowd’s take. It doesn’t change precedent.

In 1918, Socialist Eugene V. Debs went to prison, convicted of inciting
US Army personnel to resist authority.

But he was not convicted of insurrection. The Socialist Party nominated
him for president in 1920, and his name appeared on the ballot in 40
states.

Justice for Debs but not for the 45th president?

Free Speech For People tried to get Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene removed
from the ballot in Georgia using the insurrection clause.

But Judge Charles Beaudrot ruled there was insufficient evidence she had engaged in insurrection.

“Heated political rhetoric. Yes,” the judge said. “A call to arms for consummation of a pre-planned violent revolution? No.”

Thank you for the sane perspective, Judge Beaudrot.

Jan. 6 was regrettable. But the Civil War cost 750,000 American lives. Fortunately, nothing like that has severed this nation since.

The ploy to take Trump off the ballot is profoundly anti-democratic.
Tell anti-Trumpers in both parties to woo voters with winning policies
instead.

Due process and the presumption of innocence — even for Trump — are
principles that make our nation exceptional.

Respect America.

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York.

Twitter: @Betsy_McCaughey

https://nypost.com/2023/09/04/trashing-the-constitution-just-to-get-trump
/

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