On September 19, the plaintiffs in the Alabama U.S. House redistricting lawsuit filed their brief in the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief scolds the state for re-making the same arguments they already made earlier in this same case when it was before the U.S. Supreme Court. Read the brief here.
On August 1, the Florida Secretary of State revoked the qualified status of the Reform Party, for failure to file campaign finance reports. See the ruling here.
The Reform Party is now no longer qualified in any state.
However, the Reform Party is free to re-file for qualified status in Florida. Thanks to Independent Political Report for the news.
Constitutional Law Professors Josh Blackman and Seth Barrett Tillman have published a scholarly paper that argues that the 14th amendment, section 3, does not apply to presidents or to candidates for president. Use this link to see the paper. The title is “Sweeping and forcing the President Into Section 3.”
Section 3 says, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enmies thereof.”
Among other points, the article says that common word usage in the 19th century makes it clear that “any office” refers to appointed positions, not elected positions. Thanks to ElectionLawBlog for the link.
At Reason, Steven Calabresi summarizes the points in the article and says he agrees.
A Colorado state trial court has agreed to expedite the lawsuit Anderson v Griswold, Denver District Court, 2023cv-32577. This is the case in which the plaintiffs seek to bar former President Donald Trump from the Republican presidential primary ballot. The judge has agree to hold a trial in October. Here is the brief that asked for expedited hearing.
On September 13, the National Republican Redistricting Trust filed this amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, in Allen v Milligan, 23A231. This is the lawsuit over the Alabama U.S. House districting plan. The Republican Trust wants the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the decision of the 3-judge U.S. Disrict Court that had ordered new districts earlier this month.
The brief of the Alabama voters who had filed the lawsuit is due September 19.
