Jeffrey Boutwell is a retired independent historian with a B.A. in History from Yale and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This interview is based on his new book, Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of […]
14th Amendment
Let a 1000 president-inspired insurrections bloom!
Yesterday, the Supreme Court overturned the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado. I am not a legal scholar, but doesn’t this decision suggest that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the United […]
Akhil Reed Amar: “Let the states decide whether Trump should be on their ballots”
Yale law professor and author Akhil Reed Amar, one of my go-to commentators on all things constitutional, wrote an amicus brief for the Section 3, 14th Amendment Supreme Court case Trump v. Anderson. Here is a taste of his piece […]
“Trump should be thrown off the ballot.” Historians convince E.J. Dionne
When the Colorado–14th Amendment ballot case broke, Washington Post columnist and public intellectual E.J. Dionne was skeptical. He was among those who thought that Trump should stay on the ballot in Colorado and let the people decide whether he should […]
Civil War and Reconstruction historians: The 14th Amendment should bar Trump from the ballot in Colorado
Here is Martin Pengelly at The Guardian: Twenty-five historians of the civil war and Reconstruction filed a US supreme court brief in support of the attempt by Colorado to remove Donald Trump from the ballot under the 14th amendment, which bars insurrectionists […]
The Supreme Court will take up the Colorado-Trump ballot case
Here is CBS News: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a politically explosive decision from Colorado’s top court that found former President Donald Trump ineligible for the presidency and would leave him off the state’s primary ballot, stepping into a […]
“Unheard of in American history”
Today at La Presse, the French-Canadian online newspaper based in Montreal, is running a short interview I did with them about the Colorado Supreme Court decision that takes Donald Trump off the ballot in that state. Here is an English […]
Will any GOP presidential candidate take advantage of the recent Colorado Supreme Court decision?
The Colorado Supreme Court says that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist and is thus disqualified from holding the presidency in 2024. This story is not over. Trump will appeal. Some commentators are saying the Supreme Court may have to decide […]
Retired conservative judge J. Michael Luttig says the Colorado Supreme Court is correct in keeping Trump off the ballot in 2024
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Donald Trump will not appear on the ballot in 2024 because he is an insurrectionist and the 14th Amendment does not permit insurrectionists to hold federal office. Some of you may recall our […]
Colorado Supreme Court: Donald Trump is an insurrectionist and must be removed from the 2024 ballot
Early today we linked to a piece asking “when, if ever, can a democracy exclude anti-democratic politicians and parties from democratic elections?” Read it here. Well, it appears that the Colorado Supreme Court has its own ideas on the matter. […]
If president, Vivek Ramaswamy would deport American citizens
Here is NBC News: Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says that as president, he would deport American-born children of undocumented immigrants. “The family unit will be deported,” said Ramaswamy when asked by NBC News if the deportations would include American-born […]
A conservative federal judge and liberal law professor say the Constitution prohbits Trump from ever being president again
I am guessing that Michael Luttig and Lawrence Tribe don’t agree on much about the law. But they do agree that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits Trump from running for public office, including the presidency. Lutting is a retired George W. […]