Trump Disqualified (from CREW - CitizensForEthics.org)

Arizona, Trump and the 14th Am’s Disqualification Clause (NEWS ANALYSIS)

A new election litigation frontier is a near certainty as a result of events over the weekend. Like last week’s Hints from the Courts news analysis, this article aims to alert readers to intriguing developments and analyze the Arizona angles.

Since the January 6 insurrection, there has been discussion of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, called the Disqualification Clause. On Saturday morning, The Atlantic released a bombshell article co-authored by retired Judge Michael Luttig and Professor Laurence Tribe, two of the most highly regarded constitutional scholars of our time. One is a conservative, the other a liberal. Citing an upcoming law review article (available in preprint) by two other constitutional scholars, William Baude and Michael Stokes, both members of the Federalist Society, the Luttig/Tribe article is entitled:

The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President Again: The only question is whether American citizens today can uphold that commitment.

This article is not about the intricacies of their constitutional analysis. Rather, we address the practicality of the process of whether the former President might be kept off of – or, removed from – ballots in the elaborate process of working towards November 2024. We will focus on Arizona while noting that Arizona is only one of the 50 states that will be involved in this.

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The Arizona Litigation Landscape For the Abortion Rights Initiative

At Arizona’s Law, I generally report on events that have happened or are about to happen. Several recent Arizona appellate opinions point to very interesting developments in the area of initiative and referendum law. Some intriguing statements recently may impact the sure-to-come litigation challenges to initiatives and referenda seeking to be on the 2024 ballot – such as the announced abortion rights initiative – not to mention the ongoing litigation trying to undo the 70%+ voter-approved (in 2022) dark money disclosure initiative.

As much as this is on the minds of the abortion rights initiative proponents, two of this week’s Opinions indicate it is also weighing on the Supreme Court Justices’ minds.

The Supreme Court decided Voice of Surprise v. Hall (below) on Monday. The case involved a filed referendum petition which omitted the legislative act being referred from the petition when it filed the application for the referendum number. However, the measure was attached to all signed petitions. The issue was whether the referendum petitions should be tossed out as a result of the error at the time of application.

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How Rep. Ciscomani is Sabotaging Social Security

The last time Congress made changes to Social Security was 40 years ago. Unfortunately, Congressman Juan Ciscomani and his extremist Republican colleagues continue to threaten this program that millions of Americans rely on. Their proposed reform plan would mean less money for people who’ve worked their entire lives – all to protect a sweetheart tax … Read more

Ciscomani Should Defuse Calls for War with Mexico

This editorial first appeared in the Arizona Daily Star. Winston Churchill warned, “Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on that strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter.” One would think our most recent adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq would give us … Read more