Today, in the case of Anderson vs. TrumpJudge Tracie Porter of the Illinois Circuit Court has ruled that Donald Trump is disqualified from the presidency under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and therefore must be removed from the Illinois Republican primary. Section 3 states that “no person” shall hold any state or federal office if she had previously held office “a member of Congress, or… an officer of the United States” or a state official, and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or gave aid or comfort to his enemies.”
Judge Porter’s ruling largely follows the reasoning of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision on the same issue, which is currently before the federal Supreme Court. He has suspended his sentence pending an appeal, and will likely remain in abeyance until the federal Supreme Court issues its decision.
I think the Colorado Supreme Court got all the major federal constitutional issues right and therefore agrees with today’s ruling. Unfortunately, the federal Supreme Court’s oral argument strongly suggests that the justices will overturn the Colorado decision on the grounds that Section 3 is not “self-executing” and therefore cannot be enforced by state governments unless and until when Congress fails to pass additional legislation. If that happens, Illinois’ decision will have no effect. The same goes for the December ruling against Trump by the Maine Secretary of State.
For those interested, I filed an amicus brief in the federal Supreme Court case, which explains why a prior criminal conviction for the insurrection charge (or any other criminal charge) is. Not necessary for Trump to be disqualified.
I have also written about other issues related to Section 3 litigation writings, more extensively here and here. In a series of previous VCs, I explained why the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 qualifies as an “insurrection” under Section 3 (see here , here , and here ).