The movement to hold former President Donald Trump accountable under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment for his role in the January 6th insurrection is gaining momentum. With state courts in Minnesota, Michigan, and Colorado currently hearing cases against Trump citing the Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause, at least one or more of these cases could be headed to the US Supreme Court.

In a recent interview on ABC’s This Week, Free Speech For People’s Chairman and Senior Legal Advisor Ben Clements discussed the strength of these cases and their importance in upholding our democracy:

“We the people have an obligation, the Secretaries of State have an obligation, the courts have an obligation to enforce and give meaning to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Even if it might be politically hard,” Clements said. “This question needs to be decided ideally before any ballots are printed, and I hope and expect it will be decided in our favor.”

“This is a provision that’s supposed to operate whether or not you are prosecuted or convicted,” Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe added. “The courts are going to have to consider the role that [Trump] played not only in the mob that sacked the Capitol, but in the false elector scheme and in all the other schemes leading up to what happened on January 6th.”

 

Our predecessors understood that oath-breaking insurrectionists would continue to jeopardize our democracy if allowed back into power. They enacted the Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause to address events like the January 6th insurrection and protect the republic from people like Trump. Election officials and judges have an obligation to follow this constitutional mandate and bar Trump from the ballot.

Watch the full story from This Week here.