It has been three years since the
demonstration and riot in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. The details of that event are commonly known and will not be restated here. It was a
national tragedy, the sorted details of which the American people are not being
allowed to forget.
Estimates vary. The total
number of demonstrators was thought to be as few as “several thousand.” The protest organizers expected as many as
30,000. Some law enforcement sources
thought there were as many as 80,000.
The Associated press estimated 10,000. No one knows for sure, but I have seen estimates
of the number of rioters who entered the Capitol Building that go as high as 2,000.
Deliberations about the Former President's alleged culpability in the
matter continue to drag on and on in the courts. The rhetoric of the 2024 presidential
campaigns is rife with it as the candidates attempt to create a political
advantage by pointing the finger of blame.
The Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine Secretary of State have ordered
President Trump’s name to be removed from the Republican primary ballot.
The Colorado Supreme Court has found that
President Trump is ineligible to hold office according to the 14th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because his actions on
January 6th met the definition of insurrection, at a time when he
was an office holder sworn to uphold the constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court is in the process of
rendering a decision, and that should (but probably won’t) put this thing to
bed – one way or another. Of course, the
broadcast and print news media are having a feeding frenzy.
Please stay with me while I share a few
thoughts with you about Donald Trump’s current eligibility to hold office.
The 14th Amendment, Sections 2 and
3 read:
2: Representatives
shall be apportioned among the several States according to their
respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State,
excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the
choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States,
Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or
the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants
of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the
United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in
rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced
in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear
to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of
age in such State.
3: No
person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of
President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the
United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a
member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of
any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to
support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the
enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each
House, remove such disability.
The legal definition of insurrection is:
18 U.S. Code § 2383
- Rebellion or Insurrection
Whoever incites,
sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the
authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort
thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years,
or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
The crime of sedition does not appear to have
been alleged, but it is often mentioned in connection with insurrection, and a
definition by one source is provided:
Generally, sedition is conduct or speech that
incites individuals to violently rebel against the authority of the government.
Insurrection includes the actual acts of violence and rebellion.
After a reasonable effort, I was able to find
that President Trump has been indited in Federal Court in Washington, D.C. on
four felony counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to
obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an
official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. He faces 13 counts of
election interference in Georgia.
The presumption of innocence is not guaranteed by the
constitution, but it is the law in several states. The U.S. Supreme Court found the presumption
of innocence to be necessary for a fair trial in the case of Taylor v.
Kentucky. The accused are not required to
prove their innocence. It is the job of
the prosecution to prove the defendant guilty – beyond a reasonable doubt.
No report was found
that Donald Trump has been indited, tried, or convicted for insurrection or
sedition. Former
President Trump is an American citizen.
The 5th and 14th Amendments guarantee him the
right to due process of law. In my opinion, it is therefore
unconstitutional and against case law for the Colorado Supreme court to remove
his name from the Republican primary ballot for behavior that meets the definition
of insurrection.
The Colorado Supreme Court cannot cherry pick
the rights of American Citizens. The 14th
Amendment guarantees us the right to equal treatment under the law. Common criminals are afforded the presumption
of innocence every day. Isn’t a former
president entitled to the same rights as a common criminal? His legal rights cannot be taken away from
President Trump simply because the Colorado Court doesn’t like him or agree
with his political views.
Make no mistake. Trump’s behavior after the 2020 election was
intemperate, reckless, and willful. I am
not trying to excuse him from the responsibility for his actions. All I am trying to do is to speak out against
an obvious abuse of all our rights under the U.S. Constitution.
Speaking of which, American citizens have the
right to vote for the candidate of our choice. The Colorado Supreme Court even went so far as
to prohibit write-in votes for Trump to be counted. Monkey-see-monkey-do. It appears that Maine is only the first of
several other states that will try to keep Mr. Trump off their ballots.
This is not North Korea. It is America. Barring reasonable limits keeping convicted
felons from holding office, the government has no right to tell us who we can
vote for.
