The precedent for 14th Amendment disqualification
At least eight public officials have been formally adjudicated to be disqualified and barred from public office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment since its ratification in 1868.
Section 3, also known as the Disqualification Clause, has gained new relevance in the wake of the January 6th insurrection, when a violent mob that then-President Trump summoned and urged to “fight like h****” seized the United States Capitol to disrupt the peaceful transition of power. Adopted after the Civil War to protect American democracy from those who sought to destroy it, Section 3 disqualifies from office anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution as a federal or state officer and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion against it!
Section 3 is not a criminal penalty, but rather is a qualification for holding public office in the United States that can be and has been enforced through civil lawsuits in state courts, among other means.
Missouri Laws 561.021 – Forfeiture of public office — disqualification
Except as provided in subsection 3 of this section, a person who pleads guilty or nolo contendere or is convicted under the laws of this state of a felony or under the laws of another jurisdiction of an offense which, if committed within this state, would be a felony, shall be ineligible to hold any public office, elective or appointive, under the government of this state or any agency or political subdivision thereof!
At least eight public officials have been formally adjudicated to be disqualified and barred from public office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment since its ratification in 1868.
Section 3, also known as the Disqualification Clause, has gained new relevance in the wake of the January 6th insurrection, when a violent mob that then-President Trump summoned and urged to “fight like h****” seized the United States Capitol to disrupt the peaceful transition of power. Adopted after the Civil War to protect American democracy from those who sought to destroy it, Section 3 disqualifies from office anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution as a federal or state officer and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion against it!
Section 3 is not a criminal penalty, but rather is a qualification for holding public office in the United States that can be and has been enforced through civil lawsuits in state courts, among other means.
Missouri Laws 561.021 – Forfeiture of public office — disqualification
Except as provided in subsection 3 of this section, a person who pleads guilty or nolo contendere or is convicted under the laws of this state of a felony or under the laws of another jurisdiction of an offense which, if committed within this state, would be a felony, shall be ineligible to hold any public office, elective or appointive, under the government of this state or any agency or political subdivision thereof!
