Obama-Appointed Judge Dismisses Jan 6, 14th Amendment Lawsuit Against Trump

The lawsuit may serve as a precedent for future 14th Amendment challenges.

QUICK FACTS:
  • Judge Robin Rosenberg, appointed by Barack Obama, dismissed a lawsuit against Trump and his alleged role in the January 6 U.S. Capitol event.
  • The group bringing the lawsuit argued that Donald Trump should not be able to appear on the Florida primary ballot because of January 6, suggesting that Trump breached codes in the 14th Amendment.
  • The judge did not rule on whether the 14th Amendment’s provisions would prohibit Trump from running for president, only that the plaintiffs “lacked standing.”
  • “Plaintiffs lack standing to challenge Defendant’s qualifications for seeking the Presidency,” according to the ruling.
  • The decision added that “an individual citizen does not have standing to challenge whether another individual is qualified to hold public office.”
  • Attorney Lawrence Caplan, who brought the lawsuit, previously stated that the 14th Amendment is “very clear that you do not need a conviction. You need to be accused and obviously there has to be a rationale for the accusation.”
  • Section 3 of the 14th Amendment reads that no individual seeking office “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States.
14TH AMENDMENT CHALLENGES REMAIN UNSUCCESSFUL:
  • Those who claim January 6 was an “insurrection” have attempted to use the 14th Amendment to have Republicans removed from the ballot.
  • The amendment was previously used against former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), who spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally.
  • At the time, a judge ruled that the North Carolina candidate challenge process did not apply to the amendment.
  • Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) faced a similar 14th Amendment challenge, although a judge ruled the “[c]hallengers have failed to prove their case.”
BACKGROUND:
  • American Faith reported that New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan (R) backtracked on his inquiry to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot.
  • Scanlan had discussed 14th Amendment provisions with New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella, looking to see if Trump would be eliminated from the ballot.
  • He told NBC News that he is “not seeking to remove any names from the presidential primary ballot, and I have not said that I am seeking to remove any names from the presidential primary ballot.”
  • “I listened, just as I would listen to anybody that wants to come in with issues related to any candidate’s qualifications one way or the other,” he explained.