Insurrection and the Constitution's 14th Amendment, Section 3

This echo opinion letter was published in the Lancaster.Online in Pennsylvania:

To the editor:

It is reported that the Justice Department believes the actions of some participants in the Jan. 6the insurrectionists' attack on the U.S. Capitol met the bar for sedition charges. The department is also assessing whether then-Former Guy Trump is criminally culpable.

Trump and the 14th Amendment Section 3: Don't ever return!

Trump can also be held accountable in other ways, which I believe is important, given his politically dubious and nefarious comeback at the recent Conservative Political Action (aka: CQPac) Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The second impeachment provided what was needed: an on-the-record repudiation by the U.S. House that Trump betrayed his office and a bipartisan U.S. Senate majority voting in favor of conviction (though there were not enough votes for an actual conviction).

Voters removed Trump from office in the November 2020, election. And, moreover, I believe that the 14th Amendment, Section 3, can prevent Trump’s return to office. It states that those who engaged in insurrection, or who gave aid or comfort to enemies of the United States, cannot serve in public office.

Created after the Civil War’s Confederate rebellion, its use now would be fitting, given similar actors in the January 6th, rebellion. This would also, in my view, set a precedent to prevent having a dictator and to protect democracy.

Trump’s punishment will be years of costly legal battles. This may be the new reality show that curbs a man who stated, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”

From Linda Kilcrease in West Lampeter Township, Pennsylvania