Joined: 07-20-2020 Posts: 8,947
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An interesting story from the age of Wilsonian Progressivism: Trump Wouldn't Be the First Non-Confederate Barred From Office by the 14th Amendment The weird story of Victor Berger, the Espionage Act, and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.Eric Boehm | 12.29.2023 1:00 PM Quote:Last week's ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to hold federal office under the terms of the 14th Amendment is a nearly unprecedented situation.
Nearly.
Per Section 3 of that constitutional amendment, passed in the wake of the Civil War, former elected officials guilty of having engaged "in insurrection or rebellion against" the federal government are forbidden from holding office. It is obviously a provision meant to keep former Confederates from returning to Congress after the war, but the Colorado Supreme Court has determined that Trump's role in instigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol meets the vague standards outlined set forth in the amendment. On Thursday, Maine Secretary of State Shanna Bellows announced that Trump would be removed from the state's primary ballot because he is ineligible for office under the terms outlined in the 14th Amendment.
Since the end of Reconstruction, Trump is just the second person ruled ineligible for federal office due to that provision.
The first: Victor Berger, who is perhaps slightly more well known for being the first Socialist elected to Congress.
Berger was born in Austria and immigrated to the United States as a young man. In 1910, he won a seat in Congress representing Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and served a single two-year term. After being defeated in 1912, Berger remained active in left-wing politics and opposed America's entry into the First World War. In 1918, he was convicted (along with several other Socialist organizers) of having violated the Espionage Act of 1917, which effectively criminalized any criticism of the war effort.
Officially, Berger was found guilty of 26 "disloyal acts" related to a series of editorials published by the Milwaukee Leader, a paper Berger helped run, arguing against America's involvement in the war.
More...
https://reason.com/2023/12/29/trump-wouldnt-be-the-first-non-confederate-barred-from-office-by-the-14th-amendment/
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