Constitutional Law, Lawyering

Federal Court Asked to Address 14th Amendment Effort to Bar Trump

Legal academics are divided on the new popular theory that former President Donald Trump can be removed from ballots under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. While I respect many of the academics who view this as a credible interpretation, I have long opposed it as textually and historically flawed. In addition to some exaggerated claims of precedent, I view the theory as one of the most dangerous in my lifetime. One thing, however, we agree upon: it is time for the federal courts to rule on this theory to bring clarity to the election. That may now occur in West Virginia where Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wants a federal court to throw out a lawsuit attempting to remove Donald Trump from the ballot in the state. What is most striking about the filing is the accusation of judge-shopping by advocates like John Anthony Castro in seeking to remove Donald Trump from the ballot in the state.

I have previously addressed the constitutional basis for this claim. It is, in my view, wildly out of sync with the purpose of the amendment, which followed an actual rebellion, the Civil War.

The 14th Amendment bars those who took the oath and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.” It then adds that that disqualification can extend to those who have “given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

The “disqualification clause” was written after the 39th Congress convened in December 1865 when many members were shocked to see Alexander Stephens, the Confederate vice president, waiting to take a seat with an array of other former Confederate senators and military officers.

Justice Edwin Reade of the North Carolina Supreme Court later explained, “[t]he idea [was] that one who had taken an oath to support the Constitution and violated it, ought to be excluded from taking it again.”

According to these experts, Jan. 6 was an “insurrection” and Trump gave “aid and comfort” to those who engaged in it by spreading election fraud claims and not immediately denouncing the violence.

Polls have shown that most of the public view Jan. 6 for what it was: a protest that became a riot. One year after the riot, CBS News mostly downplayed and ignored the result of its own poll showing that 76 percent viewed it for what it was, as a “protest gone too far.” The view that it was an actual “insurrection” was far less settled, with almost half rejecting the claim, a division breaking along partisan lines.

Nevertheless, Democrats have claimed that the 14th Amendment prevents Trump from running because he supported an “insurrection or rebellion.”

They have argued that this long dormant clause can be used to block not just Trump but 120 Republicans in Congress from running for office.

The lawsuit could offer a long needed judicial review and an avenue to the Supreme Court for a final ruling. Yet, what was most notable was this paragraph in the filing on the motives and means used by Castro:

“Plaintiff John Anthony Castro filed this lawsuit as part of a multi-state litigation effort that he dubs “Operation Deadlock.” John Anthony Castro (@realJohnACastro), X (Sept. 20, 2023, 2:17 PM), https://bit.ly/48GyE9y. Castro’s supposed operation involves filing suit after suit— roughly two dozen so far—seeking to disqualify President Donald Trump from running for election again. Castro will then “sidelin[e] and neutraliz[e] the influence of conservative judges” by “nonsuit[ing] those cases” that are not assigned to “Obama-appointed or Clinton appointed judges.” Katherine Fung, Donald Trump’s Lawyers Get Stretched Even Thinner, NEWSWEEK (Sept. 19, 2023, 11:22 AM), https://bit.ly/3S2a25B; see, e.g., Notice of Dismissal, Castro v. Henderson, No. 2:23-cv-00617 (D. Utah Sept. 27, 2023), ECF No. 14 (Castro dismissing his suit after it was reassigned to a judge appointed by President Trump); but see, e.g., In re Fieger, No. 97-1359, 1999 WL 717991 (6th Cir. Sept. 10, 1999) (affirming sanctions against attorney who had “dismissed [his] cases so that he could select the judge”). Castro evidently hopes these efforts will “completely bankrupt [President Trump] by next summer.” John Anthony Castro (@realJohnACastro), X (Sept. 27, 2023, 8:40 PM), https://bit.ly/45gxpLq.”

Castro is running for the Republican presidential nomination. Recently, the Supreme Court refused to hear one of Castro’s cases.

Castro has been open about forum and judge shopping to get liberal, Democratic judges to rule against Trump. Castro tweeted:

“The fight is far from being over. We’re going to get the liberal 9th Circuit to kick Trump off the ballot in Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona. Coupled with the 1st Circuit kicking him off the Maine ballot, there’s ZERO path to 270. The Supreme Court can deny to hear the case but appellate courts cannot. I’m still pursuing decisions in the liberal appellate courts and there’s a full blown trial scheduled for October 20 in New Hampshire and a bench trial in Arizona on October 31.”

I tend to favor broad standing rules, but Castro’s open effort to secure review from liberal, Democratic judges should offend not only these jurists but most Americans. Castro received a J.D. from the University of New Mexico and LLM from Georgetown University.

Courts have universally denounced judge shopping. Most, like the federal court in northern Illinois, denounce the practice: “No one should be able to manipulate the assignment system in order to determine in advance which judge will get a case where the assignment is by lot.”

Obviously “forum shopping” does occur. Lawyers will seek to file in the most favorable jurisdiction, including prosecutors. Yet, I have never seen a lawyer openly discussing the manipulation of filings in search of liberal judges to achieve a particular result. The filing is accusing Castro of actually withdrawing lawsuits when he receives a judge who is not reliably liberal.

Castro must realize that he is insulting these liberal judges and making this already novel challenge even more difficult. However, it is an example of using cases to appeal to the court of public opinion. Castro knows that such raw political moves will thrill many in this age of rage.

For advocates of the 14th Amendment theory, Castro could not be a worse figure to move this claim into the courts. He adds a noxious means to a novel theory to bar Trump from ballots.  Of course, this is all being done by advocates who claim that they are defending democracy but denying the ability of others to vote for one of the leading candidates for the presidency.

211 thoughts on “Federal Court Asked to Address 14th Amendment Effort to Bar Trump”

  1. As the Dems continue to desperately try to disqualify Trump, it is akin to the deck chairs continuing to be rearranged. But the ship is going down. The Titanic that once was a great America will soon sink below the waves. When our government officials can’t come together and uniformly condemn the slaughter of innocents, we have lost the moral high ground. People like the Squad who continue to be elected and the academics who brainwash our future leaders, are the icebergs. And the usual idiot Americans who follow them are the inept captain of the ship. How sad. How horrific.

    1. We Dems aren’t trying to disqualify trump. We Dems are ascerting that trump participated in an attempt to overthrow the government of the United States. Ergo, he’s not qualified to be president. Hell, trump isn’t qualified to be president of the United States after the chaos of his administration.

      1. You Dems are trying to disqualify the United States and make it into China. Your sophomoric, high school level copy/paste comments do not help your arguments, not that my intelligent, analytical, laser-like focus comment will convince you to change your ways. BTW, is the crack that Hunter Biden supplies you pure stuff or, as many suspect, laden with lead paint chips?

      2. We Dems are ascerting (sic) that…..

        Go back to high school then college, learn how to spell, write well and engage others using persuasive arguments. Till then, youre just a troll and not the brightest at that in the troll farm

      5. The Trump administration was the best thing to happen to America in 40 years. The economy was booming (not today!) and the world was a much safer place (again, not today!). As President Trump asked for your vote in his original campaign, he also asked, “What do you have to lose?” Mr. Castro must be repudiated and made to account for his misuse of the legal system. Anyone out there know how to make this happen?

      6. Translation= we are going to lose, so we are going to disqualify the opponent. No insurrection, barely a riot…it was mostly peaceful. Heck they didn’t even loot all the liquor stores….

  2. This is it. The Big One. Ain’t nobody gonna back down. Americans murdered. Americans held hostage. Jews murdered en masse. Iran will not suffer loss of face.

    We have a president stricken with dementia and his vice-president is a hip-hop teeny bopper.

  3. Doesn’t the 14th also say explicitly that Congress makes the rules about it? If congress hasn’t provided a method to be off the ballot….then judges can’t usurp (rem birth certificate). Moreover this is the essential “political question” and hence even the shopped judges have to punt it.

    1. That’s not what it says. It says anyone who holds an office of the United States and who has taken an oath to the Constitution for that office, is excluded from holding any office of trust and responsibility again. Trump can’t lawfully and honestly even take the oath of office, because he has already attacked the very Constitution he swore to defend.

      1. It also says Congress has the authority to enforce the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment (see section 5). Congress has done so – it has passed a statute that makes it so that anyone engaging in a rebellion or insurrection is guilty of a federal crime, and that anyone so convicted is incapable of holding any office under the United States. See 18 U.S.C. 2383. Now that Congress has passed that law in order to implement Section 3, that is the procedure that governs disqualification under Section 3. IOW, a conviction under Section 2383 is a necessary predicate to disqualification.

        https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2383

  4. “Eyal Waldman, the Israeli high-tech magnate, astounded the tech industry and the entire Arab world by creating research and development centers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, all while employing hundreds of Palestinian developers. On Saturday, Hamas murdered his daughter Daniel”

    https://twitter.com/raz_sauber/status/1712429835656581263?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1712429835656581263%7Ctwgr%5Ead2690d70341147a06b1950ffb92e8dbe0f362c9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finstapundit.com%2F611052%2F

    1. They are killers.

      Hamas terrorists were ordered to target Israeli schools, ‘kill as many people as possible’ in sneak attack plans: report

      https://nypost.com/2023/10/13/hamas-attack-plans-instruct-to-kill-as-many-people-as-possible/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alert&utm_content=20231013?&utm_source=sailthru&lctg=64f25f6285efb3c7330a0cb9&utm_term=NYP%20-%20News%20Alerts

      Hamas terrorists seen holding kidnapped Israeli children, babies in vile footage

      https://nypost.com/2023/10/13/hamas-seen-holding-kidnapped-israeli-children-babies-in-footage/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_alert&utm_content=20231013?&utm_source=sailthru&lctg=64f25f6285efb3c7330a0cb9&utm_term=NYP%20-%20News%20Alerts

    2. Alan….so powerful, so gorgeous! I’ve heard it many times…but hearing it now is such a meaningful experience.

  6. I couldn’t care less what you think about the Bidens. HB’s and Menendez’s conduct is not “virtually-identical conduct,” which is what the 7:33 PM claimed.

  7. It’s not “virtually-identical conduct.” Menendez took official acts, and under FARA it’s illegal for elected officials to act as foreign agents at all. HB is not an elected official and took no official acts.

  8. This case is an exemplar of Epstein’s First Law of Democrat Behavior:

    The Democrats will perform any act, or take any position, that they believe will help them obtain or maintain political power.

  9. “Castro has criticized Donald Trump, calling him a “false prophet””

    – The man who lies in court and practices without a license, who identified himself as an “international tax attorney,” was (and is) not, in fact, a licensed attorney.

    – The man who forges signatures on court documents and deceives the IRS and his international clients with tax tricks

    – Although Castro identified himself as an “international tax attorney,” Castro was (and is) not, in fact, a licensed attorney. (See, Letter from Florida Bar Counsel to IRS Office of Professional Responsibility ).

    – A man who has no guidelines or principles when applying to the highest bidder DEMOCRAT/REPUBLICAN

    HE DARES TO CALL TRUMP A FALSE PROPHET? You are shameless

    *Case Alan Dixon v Commissioner of Internal

    his tax preparer, Mr. Castro, filed Forms amended for tax years 2013 and 2014. The forms did not contain Mr. Dixon’s original signature in each form on the line for the taxpayer’s signaturethere appeared an illegible signature written (as would later emerge) by Mr. Castro. Dixon also did not submit a valid power of attorney” for Castro to sign for Mr.Dixon Consequently, dismissed Dixon’scomplaint. And “Wrong Signature Voids Million-Dollar Plus Refund Claim,” Forbes, Feb. 24, 2020.

    Consequently, Judge tosses suit

    https://www.withersworldwide.com/en-gb/insight/read/dixon-a-cautionary-case-of-us-australian-tax-issues
    https://www.taxnotes.com/research/federal/court-documents/court-opinions-and-orders/federal-circuit-affirms-dismissal-of-refund-suit/7gnt7
    web.archive.org/web/20220307232157/https://marketing.withersworldwide.com/reaction/emsdocuments/Dixon_A_Cautionary_Case_of_U.S.-Australian_Tax_Issues.pdf

    *Case Castro vs Georgetown University Law Center’s

    He was banned from participating in Georgetown University Law Center’s job fair as a student and then later on as an employer over what the university claimed were “deliberate misrepresentations on his resume”; the university had considered expelling him over the matter but ultimately decided against it. These alleged misrepresentations included serving as a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point when he had spent one year at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School, a military-style prep school for students not yet academically qualified to attend West Point, and then dropped out. Castro claimed there was no misrepresentation, as he claimed had been conditionally accepted to West Point with the first year at the prep school, but withdrew after the first year.

    Consequently, a $5 million lawsuit against Georgetown University’s law school by a graduate who claimed he was barred as student an employer from a school hiring fair because of discrimination and retaliation.

    A man who falsified his resume to enter an elite university and dares to sue it for his own lie in a court without obvious jurisdiction without evidence and barred by the statute of limitations.

    U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn of Dallas ruled that the Texas court did not have jurisdiction over the Washington, D.C.-based law school

    The school cited in its dismissal motion. Because of the prior resume issues, the school banned Castro from the job fair as an employer, the school says. The school also notes that Castro did not specify the date he was banned from the job fair as an employer. The school says it was in December 2015, and Castro’s suit is barred by the statute of limitations. The school also cited the jurisdictional issue

    Consequently. Judge tosses Georgetown law grad’s suit over school job fair ban

    abajournal.com/news/article/judge_tosses_georgetown_law_graduates_suit_over_school_job_fair_ban
    abajournal.com/images/main_images/CastroDecision.pdf

    1. lynnklinken,

      You might not be aware but this website only permits two hyperlinks per comment. I modified the above comment of yours so that it would post by removing the protocol and such from the extra links. If in the future you would like the readership to review more than two hyperlinks this can be accomplished by posting multiple comments having two or fewer links each.

  11. Jonathan: There are a lot of cases now which want DJT removed from the ballot next year under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. In the West Virginia case you accuse John Anthony Castro of “judge shopping”. You say “courts have universally denounced judge shopping”. A strange position for you to take considering you did not oppose the practice back in July. Then the AGs in Texas and Missouri went around the country looking for a sympathetic judge to hear their case against the Biden administration’s efforts to stop the spreading of misinformation about Covid-19. The AGs found a sympathetic ear in a remote judicial Texas district where Judge Terry Doherty presides. He is a Trump appointee and ruled against the Biden administration’s policies. That was a case of “judge shopping” writ large. Don’t recall you objecting back then to “judge shopping”. Not when it served your ideological purposes.

    Now the more important Section 3 case is in Colorado–not West Virginia. There a number of Colorado voters (including many Republicans) who filed a lawsuit to keep DJT off the Colorado ballot next year under the Section 3 argument. DJT filed a motion to dismiss the case. In his brief, among other things, DJT argued Section 3 doesn’t apply to him because he didn’t pledge an oath to support the Constitution. Sounds bizarre? Well, it is but here is what DJT claimed, in part:

    “Section Three [of the 14th Amendment] does not apply to President Trump [he means former president]. Section three disqualifies a person from holding office only if he ‘previously [took] an oath, as a member of Congress, or an officer of the United States, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state…But as the term was used in Section three, it do not cover the President. Furthermore, Section Three can disqualify someone only if his oath includes a promise ‘to support the Constitution of the United States, which the Presidential oath does not….the framers of the 14th Amendment surely knew, requires the President to swear to ‘preserve, protect and defend’ the Constitution–not to ‘support’ the Constitution” (at pp. 12-13 of the brief).

    So when DJT stood before Chief Justice Roberts he only pledged to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution–not to actually “support” it. This how authoritarians think. For DJT the Constitution is only words on paper and they don’t apply to him.

    Oh, by the way. Colorado Judicial District Judge Sarah Wallace ruled against DJT and the case will go to trial on 10/30. That is, unless DJT appeals all the way to the USSC. And that is where DJT will do some real “judge shopping”! And you won’t object to that will you?

    2. ..no matter how much you spin spin spin facts into unfactual stories by taking the facts out of context, Mr. McIntyre, you still cannot change the Truth to fit your fairytails… it’s humourous to see you trying so hard ……………..

      1. eighteenthhole: You say I “spin spin spin facts into unfactual (sic- the correct word is “nonfactual”) stories…”. What facts did I “spin”? For example, I quoted directly from DJT’s motion to dismiss the Colorado case. Read the entire brief and then tell me what facts I took “out of context”. DJT’s whole argument for dismissal was that the oath he took as President did not include an oath “to support” the Constitution. If you agree, or disagree, please explain. Discuss the issues before making spurious claims!

        1. Pelosi and the demoncrat mayor of DC refused LEO support for the known coming jan 6th stop the steal rally. The feds had control of the proud boys and the oath keepers long before that date, the heads of both and on down the line.
          The head of the capitol police reported his formerly instantly answered calls for back up were refused for an extended period of time.
          The police are seen waving protesters past barriers, and waving in and greeting protesters at the capitol, and escorting them around, showing them about in tours.
          Pelosi is seen with her daughter and movie documentary footage of the day which they prepared ahead of time for their plot.
          We can all go and look at the hundreds of thousands of votes spiked in the middle of the night in all the swing states, all 100% for Biden, that made him just surpass Trumps massive lead and win. Those are real “hockey sticks” with 90 degree angles going straight up to 100% cheat for Biden. In the middle of the night, instantly, in all the swing states, biden actually lost.

          So the adult criminals, the demoncrats, knew what was coming, and they made certain it would happen. The crowds were attacked with gas and projectiles, and the magnetically sealed doors of the capitol opened.
          Since then the criminal demoncrat govenment, illegally installed, has ruthlessly over prosecuted all the people they waved in, gave tours to, and watched peacefully stroll out less than 3 hours later.
          The democrats have also lied and claimed 5 leos on ‘their side” were murdered that day. Everyone of those was an outright lie.
          After the beat to death with a fire extinghuisher failed for one cop, they moved to “bear spray” (a russian supported protester) from a protester killed him. Both lies. They took his corpse and placed in the capitol rotunda and did worship their false idol in pretend grief and adoration of false martyrdom. The autopsy revealed it was a heart attack /stroke days later. Tucker Carlson’s video revealed he wasn’t dead or eve injured when you demoncrats claimed otherwise – there he was jockeying around fast and fine on his own two feet HOURS after your lies were claimed to have occurred.

          So you’re one big lie supporter, Jan 6th as well as the presidency of biden, and that guilt and shame and criminality shows in the joe blew it again with his criminal crowd of liars in power, over, and over, and over again.
          Since your gaggle of criminals got away with it, they decided to take it another step further and have declared Trump supporters and voters and all those who won’t condemn him the greatest terror threat to the USA, so the doj and fbi and all the secret agencies are on board.
          Your full blown totalitarian one party state is almost complete. Celebrate. You believe in it.

  12. Since John Anthony Castro received a Law degree from Georgetown University, I would hope he was not one of your students. Or if he was, that he slept through the class that would have explained this to him.

    More seriously on this matter, I believe that Section 2 of the Constitution sets the ballot qualifications for someone to be President. Even if the relevant section of the 14th Amendment were still held valid, it cannot be applied until after the (future) re-election of Donald Trump. In other words, I don’t believe it is a means to exclude someone from appearing on the ballot; it can only be applied afterward.

    On the issue of trying to short-circuit the judge assignments by filing and then withdrawing the suits that are not assigned to judges Castro believes will be friendly to his plea: That makes a mockery of the judicial system. It’s as bad as when Trump used to argue that certain judges shouldn’t be allowed to hear his cases because of their heritage. It was wrong then, and it’s just as wrong now in this case.

  13. Why is that paranoia? Terrorist organizations use any means to inject their operatives to be silent until called to act. We know that from history, but recently, doors were left open to spies and criminals let go by foreign nations. Look at the border.

    No one is saying immigrants aren’t good people and valuable. Many of us are recent to this nation, and some are immigrants. Don’t be paranoid by assuming all good people hate immigrants. They don’t. Most immigrants coming in legally are accepted.

  14. 14 AMENDMENT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

    All acts of Lincoln and his successors subsequent to Lincoln’s illegal denial of secession were and remain illicit and unconstitutional.  

    Secession, not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, is reserved to the States.  

    Lincoln’s predecessor, President James Buchanan, constitutionally allowed seven States to secede peacefully.  

    Virginia, New York, and Rhode Island included in a clause in their ratifications of the Constitution that permitted them to withdraw from the Union if the new government should become oppressive.

    Abortion, not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, is reserved to the States. 

    The Supreme Court acted retroactively by 50 years to strike down abortion as a constitutional right and return it to the States. 

    The Supreme Court must act retroactively by 150 years to strike down all acts of Lincoln, including those of his successors, the so-called “Reconstruction Amendments,” subsequent to his unconstitutional denial of secession, and return their disposition to the States.

    The Supreme Court must act retroactively by 150 years to strike down the illegal immigration on January 1, 1863, of freed slaves who were immutably precluded from citizenship by extant immigration law, the Naturalization Act of 1802, which constituted the intent of the American Founders and Congress.

    Lincoln brutally, tyrannically, illicitly, and unconstitutionally subdued, suppressed, and oppressed free people and free States that had chosen to consolidate and unite, understanding their right and freedom to split and separate from that union per popular vote.

    Reprehensible slavery must have been fully abrogated through legal means; long-suffering freed slaves must have been compassionately repatriated, which is the most common desire of abductees.

    For his unconstitutional acts, Lincoln was a criminal of high office.

    The high-criminal Lincoln wrote the laws.

    The high-criminal Lincoln wrote the history books.

  15. OT:

    Those of you who live on the West Coast (Oregon to Texas) are fortunate to be able to see tomorrow’s “ring of fire” solar eclipse. This following NASA video explains it well. Do not look at the sun / moon as it can cause permanent damage to your retinas. You must use specialized solar eclipse glasses.

    Why ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse on Oct. 14 has scientists excited (video)

    The annular solar eclipse will first touch down in the U.S. in Oregon at 9:13 a.m. PDT (12:13 p.m. EDT and 1613 GMT) on Saturday (Oct. 14), while the partial eclipse stage will hit the U.S. West Coast at 11:03 EDT (1503 GMT). …

    “There’s a lot of Earth science that can occur, because you’re getting this large drop in flux (radiation) coming from the sun,” NASA postdoctoral researcher and solar astrophysicist Trevor Knuth told Space.com. The population of charged particles like electrons can therefore change, which the agency plans to check out with sounding rockets sent into the upper atmosphere, he added.

    1. It’s at least partially viewable everywhere in the continental US. One way to “view” it is by splaying your fingers, crossing the fingers of one hand over the other to form little open squares, and watching the shadow projected through the openings onto the ground — https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety (scroll down to “What If You Don’t Have a Safe Solar Filter/Viewer?” for an image)

    2. Just imagine how many demoncrats are all wiccaned up today and are outside setting up their mortars and pestles and casting spells and chanting to their tree gods, having their illicit sex rituals, sprinkling their fairy dust as they lay a curse on … Trump.

  16. Well, the more people trek these revenge paths against their political enemies (and their voters), the more likely this will end badly for all. Instead of a prolonged Civil War (like China had), the US Civil War 2.0 may likely end with nuclear weapons dumped on their fellow Americans & illegally entering aliens.

    Lots of death is now a probability inside the USA.

    And the left-right hustle will get a lot of people dead.
    That will be certainly in line with some folks that hate having all these extra mouths to feed worldwide.

    The ELITE always win. They never suffer for the policies and poisons they advocate and inject into the population.
    They hire the most craven (and well-schooled trained operatives) to create the Hegelian endgame.

    1. Lots of death is now a probability inside the USA.

      Unfortunately, that’s true. Tens of thousands of special-interest aliens have been apprehended at the souther border, and there have been 1,500,000 gotaways, meaning many of them undoubtedly are also special-interest aliens. This whole thing is being set up for a massive terror attack in the homeland that will make 9/11 pale by comparison.

      1. tone down the paranoia. You nor I have any idea how many are terrorists or people who seek harm within CONUS. Most seek what the usual third world resident seeks. perspective is key

        1. I assume you’re correct about what most are seeking. But with several million having crossed, and 1,500,000 gotaways, only a tiny fraction of that number is still a lot of people – and remember it only took 19 stateside to accomplish 9/11. Further, we know that many if not most of the special-interest aliens are single males of military age. So if even a small fraction of the millions who have crossed are bent on harming us, and in communication with their masters abroad . . . well I think we should face reality. I don’t call it paranoia.

          1. So if even a small fraction of the millions who have crossed are bent on harming us, and in communication with their masters abroad . . . well I think we should face reality. I don’t call it paranoia.

            This is what makes you, you, and me, me. The right are notorious for being fatalistic. The Left are equally doom & gloom. You tell us you are an elder man. You more than anyone us, IIRC a Harvard grad, carry the onus to show others wisdom, insight, a grand view of things, a steady hand that guides younger generations. What’s more, as a Jew, you have the 4000+ years long history and teachings to praise God, hope in the Creator, not be overcome with despair. I don’t recall you being related to Job, so break out your copy of the Psalms and get cracking. I read my Psalms every single morning, 3:30 AM EST, as well as early Church Patristics (I’m Catholic). The Pslams are a great treasure of both praising God and supplication. Your penchant for fatalism (“reality”) is no more helpful than the Left’s Woke religion.

            This is precisely why I have stated many times on here that I a neither Left nor Right. Both miss the mark. Both exclude the Creator. You should include YHWH. What’s more, it is you who should be writing this, not someone 20-30 years younger than you. I reject your fatalism. I reject as well the godlessness of the Left

            1. Estovir – I appreciate your addressing me personally. And I appreciate your thoughts about the psalms. But Job was a righteous man and was generously blessed by G-d for his wisdom. As for me, I’m skeptical that I’m being fatalistic. Maybe I’m just keeping up with the times and planning accordingly. I’m not in a panic, but I do disagree with the policy of having an open southern border for many reasons (homeland security, drain on resources, human trafficking, drug cartels, etc.). Three of my children live in big cities where they are feeling the effects first-hand.

              As long as we’re referencing the Tenach (Old Testament), we can observe that the sons of Issachar understood their times and knew what to do. This was called wisdom. See 1 Chronicles 12. In the New Testament Jesus (a Jew) instructed his followers to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16).

              1. Cell fates are specified by lineage-determining transcription factors whose expression is often not limited to a single cell type (Tronche and Yaniv, 1992). Comparisons of the genome-wide binding patterns of different transcription factors in a variety of species and cell types have generated two major insights regarding transcription factor binding patterns: (1) different factors in the same cell type tend to colocalize on a genome-wide scale (Chen et al., 2008, MacArthur et al., 2009), and (2) the same factor in different cell types or at different stages of development exhibits different genome-wide binding patterns (Lupien et al., 2008, Odom et al., 2004, Sandmann et al., 2006).

                Heinz S, et al. Simple combinations of lineage-determining transcription factors prime cis-regulatory elements required for macrophage and B cell identities. Mol Cell. 2010 May 28;38(4):576-89. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2010.05.004.

                The article has been cited > 10,000 times, a whopper, yet it demonstrates how we have no certainty how DNA / RNA / transcription factors function when it comes to differentiation, homeostasis and pathology. Yet here we are alive and kicking.

                There is no certainty. Certainty does not exist. Certainty is a fantasy that the wise, like the Old Testament (OT) prophets, do not entertain. You lament the open US borders. I do as well but for different (medical) reasons. Yet, both you and I can never be certain that those crossing the US Border, legally or illegally, will be terrorists or vectors for infectious diseases. You nor I do not know if we shall live another day, if an American one mile within our milieu will kill or pass a deadly pathogen to us. There is no certainty of anything. The OT prophets like Jeremiah were certain about one thing, though: God’s people had rejected His ways. Isaiah was convinced his Jewish listeners were seeking his death because he kept criticizing them for turning to Baal instead of YHWH. Their words 3000 years ago have vast application today to both Jews and Christians.

                As I stated, you are older than me. You have a burden, nay a responsibility, to act with temperance, wisdom, intellect, encouraging those in your midst as the OT Prophets did. I do as well No one is disputing that being clever as snakes and innocent as doves are advisable. However, the constant fatalism we all see by Conservatives is inimical to people of Faith, and elders, who are supposed to be wiser, stronger in insight and have that long view that the OT prophets had. The Psalms has 150 chapters (Christian version). Only one chapter ends in despair. One hundred and forty nine chapter end upbeat full of hope. Do you follow? Conservatives are breathless with their despair and fatalism, but particularly the elder conservatives. Breitbart, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Daily Mail….all toxic fatalism….because it $ell$.

                Have an army of terrorists crossed the US Border? Have they numbered 1,000,000? 10,000? 100? 10? You do not know that. I do know that at least one person outside my front door may kill me. I live in Richmond where violent crime is top in the nation, meaning there are likely more than 1 people who may murder me. There is uncertainty in life, at the US Border, outside my front door. You have to live accordingly, being “being clever as snakes and innocent as doves”. You gotta give people hope.

        1. Can you prove that? What information do you have about the 1,500,000 gotaways? I’m genuinely interest if you have some info.

            1. Okay, but to support your assertion that “no accused terrorist has ever entered over the southern border” you’d have to know exactly who the 1,500,000 gotaways are and be certain that none of them are accused terrorists.

              1. No, reverse the directionality. Identify the accused terrorists and then, for those that aren’t born in the US, identify how they entered.

                1. Interesting. But “accused” is in the passive voice. The person could have been accused by anyone. Even if we limit it to someone in government, it could be any government in the world. Do we really have that amount of information?

                  1. I tried to clarify that I was talking about people charged by US law enforcement with a terrorist act.

                    1. I’m not sure why that makes a difference; is it fine and dandy if they’ve been charged by a different nation’s law enforcement? But okay let’s say we narrow it down like that. The narrower the classification, the easier it is to demonstrate, but the less significant is the assertion demonstrated.

          1. “suspected” is not a synonym for “accused,” and more still come over the norther border than the southern one

            1. If we’re talking about the real world where people can actually get maimed and killed – instead of just quibbling about words – then it is not a great thing when suspected terrorists cross over our border in large numbers. Do you disagree?

          2. In the tradition of the israeli rah rah ree supporters here…
            As far as I’m concerned every illegal alien border crosser is a terrorist and terrorist supporter, that means all of them.

    2. Lots of death is now a probability inside the USA.

      And the left-right hustle will get a lot of people dead.

      “Lots of deaths” have been the trajectory in America because of Americans unhealthy choices, not to mention failure to procreate. The end of the civilization is inevitable. However, nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) are amazing molecules, and whether they synthesize another species like human beings, or something more efficient, is very likely. Our timeline as a species on the globe is so short, while viruses predate all organisms. The best thing that could happen to the planet is to rid it of the presence of human beings – we are a fatal species. It was a nice run, but the Baby Boomers produced offspring that were/are a threat to themselves, each other and the planet. With any luck maybe the “ring of fire” solar eclipse that is occurring this weekend will bring us new horizons? If not, the standard medical counsel still applies:

      1. Lose weight below a BMI of 25
      2. Adopt rigorous physical exercise 5x/week for 60 mins each day
      3. Consume protein, complex carbs, vegetables as needed. Everything else is debatable
      4. Find a mate, reproduce, raise your offspring to be more efficient, more intelligent, more generous than you (we) were
      5. care for the soul, mind, heart with daily meditations, reflections, stimulating cerebral nourishment
      6. Golden Run applies
      7. have fun

      tempus fugit

      1. Why the clip of Lahaina Maui ?
        It didn’t include the officials turning them back into the fires by blocking the exits for hours, so it was kinda lame.

  17. Greg Reese
    @gregreese
    A retired Spec Ops friend told me tonight that the US was caught on a failed mission in the Middle East last night and codes have gone out to activate sleeper cells in the US as a response. Guys from Eglin Air Force Base are being sent home for personal prep. Heads up.
    9:14 PM · Oct 12, 2023

    1. @JordanSchachtel
      This is worth stating one more time:
      The top leadership of Hamas, which is currently holding American hostages in Gaza, reside in Doha.
      The U.S. Secretary of State was in Doha today and didn’t say a word to the Qatari emir about it.
      2:41 PM · Oct 13, 2023

      @Cernovich
      This should be the single most significant point, and it’s not.
      People should ask why.

      1. bc Hamas was created by Israeli intel and American intel to go after Arafat.
        Listen to Ron Paul talk about it.

  18. Professor Turley,

    Your claim that the “purpose of the amendment” was a response to the Civil War is at odds with the congressional history of Section 3.

    An earlier draft version of the Amendment from the 1st Session of the 39th Congress used the following words: “all persons who voluntarily adhered to THE LATE INSURRECTION, giving aid and comfort, shall be excluded from the right to vote.”

    This earlier draft would have limited its applicability to the Civil War itself. However, this was removed because Section 3 is NOT supposed to be limited to the Civil War.

    If you truly believe that the Civil War was the PURPOSE of the amendment, why did they make this change?

    https://deliverypdf.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=964083123101064090017082090008100104000082090035005036124002115090078003102004004087123102061029031045017126105094090085081081016018074003068076019095010087070107107041019094097066004067104116124080107072023125083110030018024075109068125108118105086127&EXT=pdf&INDEX=TRUE

    https://illinoislawreview.org/symposium/first-100-days-biden/what-happens-if-the-biden-administration-prosecutes-and-convicts-donald-trump-of-violating-18-u-s-c-%C2%A7-2383/#:~:text=Until%20the%204th%20day%20of,President%20of%20the%20United%20States.

      1. So now a discussion about legislative history is not appropriate for a legal blog? Interesting. Why not?

    2. Because the next revolution would be limiting too. Lots of wars, one after the next.
      Right after the civil war they had no proof it would not happen again, soon.

      So now the dirty demoncrats claim protesting a grievance to the government is against the law., so long as it is not they who do so.
      Really, stuff it in between the pages of your little red diary.

  19. In another thread someone was saying half of Gaza is children, suggesting they can’t properly be included in the count of Gazans who support Hamas. On its face that claim is dubious, as it is well known that many children are indoctrinated to hate Jews from an early age. Here is some chilling video evidence of just that:

    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1712409699537072397

    1. Oldmanfromkansas,

      Agreed. They seem to suckle poison at the mother’s breast and grow to be monsters.

    2. You assume children who are indoctrinated from an early age have the capacity to “support” a political position?

      Do you support reducing the US voting age to match your apparent understanding of a child’s mental capacity? Or, do you think Gazan children have a higher capacity that US children? Please pick one, or acknowledge the inconsistency in your stance.

      1. I wouldn’t give them a ballot but Hamas would give them a gun.

        It’s that simple and that ugly.

      2. I said nothing about voting in an election. Not sure where that came from tbh.

          2. How else does one support a political party?

            Not only money (which would have limited application to children), but mentally, with one’s speech, and with one’s will, i.e., intention to obey or follow it. Use a little imagination, man – you can do it!

        2. Should Gazan kids be counted as supporters of Hamas?

          You said yes, because they can be indoctrinated to support Hamas at an early age.

          But, how can they have the capacity to choose to “support” Hamas if they don’t yet have the capacity to engage in political decision-making?

          If anything, their propensity to be indoctrinated is precisely why they CANNOT be considered capable of expressing “support” for a political party.

          (I say this all as a Jewish American who “supports” Israel’s right to intervene. We don’t have to lie to ourselves and think that an 8 yr old who has been given a grenade is actually at fault. It is akin to a parent’s guilt in the US if he gives an 8 yr old a gun, and the 8 yr old kills someone.)

          1. Total BS. Did you watch the video and what the kids were saying? I suspect not.

            1. This is the reason kids cannot legally sign contracts in the US. It isn’t BS. It has to do with mental capacity.

              1. Watch the video of what the kids say. They are of a fixed mind that they want to kill Jews, and that is their highest goal. It has absolutely nothing to do with signing contracts in the US. SMH

                If you don’t actually watch the video then this is pure sealioning and I won’t be responding further.

    3. Over 50% of israeli children say wipe out every palestinian.
      It was 62% BEFORE the latest total failure.

      Bloviating gasbag meet the mirror.

    4. 62% of israeli youth say all palestinians should be wiped out.
      Check the polls dummy.

    1. Young,
      I fear this will become a flash point for massive, global upheaval that will be far reaching and felt by all.
      Invest in chickens and PMs and ammo.

      1. It’s clearly a risk. I don’t think it would be this bad or this dangerous to everyone if Trump were in office.

        1. From our enemies, our friendemies to our allies all smell the stench of weakness and incompetence of the Biden admin. They all see it as the time and a great opportunity to act.
          I think it will get worse as the election nears.

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