Think the point is the criteria for disqualification and if there is a determination and who must make it.
Under 35? Ok, a state can clearly see that they are under 35, it’s not a judgement, it’s just a boring fact.
Not a natural born citizen? Again, a sinple fact.
Failed to appropriately follow that state’s procedures to get on the ballot? Again, local determination is easy.
But if the only disqualification proposed is 14th amendment, needs federal government (and evidently Congress specifically, which I didn’t expect) to determine. The states cannot unilaterally declare a federal candidate to be an insurrectionest, no matter how obvious it may seem. If it is so obvious the federal government should have acted, buy if they don’t, there isn’t a judicial remedy.
In short, just vote against the dude. The three states were all symbolic only anyway, They weren’t going to sway the primaries and especially not the general election. Use this energy to motivate folks to go vote against him, that is the only remedy.
If we can’t disqualify someone without an act of Congress after they’ve become president-elect then section 3 is either a dead letter or a suicide pact. There’s also the problem of why specifically enjoin congress to remove the disability but not to impose it? The reasoning they used to come to these conclusions is twisted and obviously a result of working backwards from a conclusion they already wanted.
Well I’ll agree that I was surprised they said Congress specifically, but I at least do think it’d have to be a federal matter, rather than state’s discretion.
Note this was unanimous. The liberal justices also agreed a state shouldn’t do this. It would be a mess if you opened that up. The GOP would absolutely game that if it were allowed.
In a well functioning version of the US that would mean Congress refuses to certify their state election results. There’s also the problem that this isn’t going away. This kind of leadership crisis has to dealt with as early as possible and we’re kicking the can down the road because we’re afraid of the consequences. (The liberal judges inferred as much in their separate opinion)
But a look at history tells us that the further a crisis like this gets kicked down the road, the bloodier the resolution is when it happens, and the long term situation just gets worse too. The ultimate in can kicking was the French Revolution which saw mass murder of commoners in areas backing the king, and mob warfare in the Capitol.
So while we might weather some limited political violence and a lot of protests now, in the future that ratio flips
