14th Amendment of the US Constitution

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution?
• News Summary: 14th Amendment of the US Constitution
• Background
• Impact of this judgement on Trump’s candidacy for 2024

Why in news?

• The top court in the US state of Colorado ordered former US President Donald Trump to be taken off the ballot in the state for the Presidential elections next year.
• The Supreme Court in Colorado ruled that Trump stands “disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

14th Amendment of the US Constitution

• Civil war
  • The war was fought between the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery.
  • As American states sought to expand westward, a growing divide between the two sides came to the fore.
  • The North wanted slavery to be abolished, while the South wanted to retain it.
    • The Southern states’ economies were also comparatively more dependent on agriculture, where most of the workers were African-American slaves.
  • Following the election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the support that he enjoyed from the Northern states, it took only a few months for seven southern states to secede from the United States.
  • As a result, war began between the Unionists (The North) and the Confederacy (The South).
• End of civil war and amendments to the US constitution
  • The war ended with the victory of the Unionists and the led to subsequent abolishment of slavery.
  • The 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments were introduced after the Civil War ended.
  • These Amendments were passed and ratified by the US Congress between 1866 and 1868.
  • It extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.
• Section 3 of 14^th Amendment
  • It says that if any person previously elected to any government office took part in an insurrection or rebellion, they cannot hold office again.
• Rationale behind this amendment
  • People seeking political and constitutional changes must play by the rules set out in the Constitution.
  • In a democracy, people cannot substitute force, violence or intimidation for persuasion, coalition building and voting.
  • Therefore, the idea that an elected official would have rebelled against the constitution itself would be seen as a threat to that system of constitutional politics.

News Summary:14th Amendment of the US Constitution

• Donald Trump, the former US President and Republican frontrunner for the US elections, was disqualified from Colorado's presidential primary ballot.

Background

• The Courts judgment was related to Trump’s alleged role in the January 6, 2021 attacks on the US Capitol by his supporters – the seat of the country’s government.
• Trump supporters were protesting the election victory of Democratic candidate Joe Biden in 2020, claiming the polls were rigged.
• They rioted and entered the premises of government offices in Washington DC. At least five people died in the aftermath and some were injured.

Impact of this judgement on Trump’s candidacy for 2024

• Trump has said he will contest the ruling and the case is then likely to go to the US Supreme Court.
• Section 3 has “rarely been tested” in court. This marks the first time that it has been mentioned in relation to a former President.
• Even if the court agrees with the Colorado judgment, it would simply mean Trump cannot be voted for in that state in 2024.
• Traditionally, Colorado has seen the Democratic party’s candidate win the state’s electors, so the new ruling is not seen as particularly harmful to Trump’s electoral prospects.

Q1) What is the Confederacy?

The Confederacy was a group of 11 southern states that seceded from the United States between 1860 and 1865. The states were: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia.

Q2) What is the federal court system of the USA?

The federal court system has three main levels: district courts (the trial court), circuit courts which are the first level of appeal, and the Supreme Court of the United States, the final level of appeal in the federal system.

Source: Explained: The rarely invoked 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, used to disqualify Trump from holding office | Reuters | Live Mint