14th amendment

COMMENTARY
A white man stands in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building.

Edward Blum’s crusade against affirmative action used legal strategy of civil rights activists

BY: - December 4, 2023

Few people have been more associated with rolling back modern-day civil rights laws than Edward Blum, the former stockbroker who has successfully challenged many affirmative action and voting rights laws. Blum has no formal legal training. He, in fact, refers to himself as an “amateur litigator.” Yet, he was instrumental in engineering several legal cases […]

Oregon Secretary of State Griffin-Valade won’t block Trump from ballot

BY: - November 30, 2023

Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade won’t bar former President Donald Trump from appearing on primary ballots despite an ongoing pressure campaign, she announced Thursday. Griffin-Valade cited legal guidance from the Oregon Department of Justice, whose attorneys told her that presidential primaries operate differently than other races and she doesn’t have the authority to determine […]

Colorado judge rejects attempt to bar Trump from 2024 ballot under ‘insurrection’ clause

BY: - November 19, 2023

A Colorado judge has ordered the state’s top elections official to place former President Donald Trump on the 2024 primary ballot, rejecting a lawsuit from a group of voters who argued the Republican frontrunner is constitutionally ineligible to hold office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause. “The Court orders the Secretary of State to place […]

Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters in a campaign visit to Council Bluffs, Iowa, on July 7, 2023. He was back in Iowa on July 18 to participate in a cable TV interview. (Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Michigan judge says only Congress can keep Trump off of the 2024 ballot

BY: - November 15, 2023

A Michigan Court of Claims judge on Tuesday agreed with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson that her office lacks the authority to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the ballot for the 2024 Republican primary election. The ruling by Judge James Robert Redford determined that arguments as to whether Trump should be barred based on […]

Testimony on 14th Amendment continues on final day of Colorado Trump trial

BY: - November 4, 2023

Read more from our reporting on the Trump 14th Amendment trial here. The final day of a weeklong trial in a challenge to former President Donald Trump’s constitutional eligibility to seek office again began with a protracted dispute over how much expertise an expert witness called by Trump’s legal team really had. Robert Delahunty, a retired […]

Hilary Rudy, deputy director, elections division, Colorado Department of State, testifies during a hearing for a lawsuit to keep former President Donald Trump off the state ballot on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Denver. (AP, pool/Jack Dempsey)

Colorado elections administrator testifies in Trump 14th Amendment trial

BY: - November 1, 2023

A top Colorado elections administrator was called to the witness stand Wednesday in a trial that could determine whether former President Donald Trump will be disqualified from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot under a Civil War-era insurrection clause. A group of six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters have sued Secretary of State Jena Griswold in […]

Extremism expert testifies on Trump’s ‘violent’ rhetoric in Colorado 14th Amendment trial

BY: - October 31, 2023

Former President Donald Trump’s history of violent rhetoric and statements about extremist groups were the subject of continued testimony on Tuesday in a trial seeking to bar him from the 2024 Colorado ballot under a Civil War-era constitutional provision. It’s a pattern that the plaintiffs in the case and an expert witness say is crucial […]

Trump 14th Amendment trial in Colorado opens with focus on events of Jan. 6

BY: - October 30, 2023

A weeklong trial in a challenge to former President Donald Trump’s constitutional eligibility to seek office again began in a Denver courtroom on Monday with a focus on the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol and interrupted the certification of election results. Six Colorado voters have alleged in […]

“Trans people are divine,” reads a sign at a Nashville event hosted by clergy on Feb. 6, 2023. (John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Federal court temporarily halts Tennessee ban on transgender care for minors

BY: - June 29, 2023

In a partial victory for transgender Tennesseans, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday on portions of new law prohibiting trans minors from obtaining gender affirming care, ruling the law likely violates the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Judge Eli Richardson granted the injunction to the plaintiffs — among them, parents […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, speaks with reporters about debt limit and government spending negations inside the Capitol on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Progressives try to persuade Biden to use the 14th Amendment to resolve debt crisis 

BY: - May 23, 2023

WASHINGTON — Progressives are pushing hard for President Joe Biden to take the unprecedented step of invoking the 14th Amendment as a way to avoid financial calamity if the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy do not strike a deal on the debt ceiling in the coming days. The lawmakers and legal scholars argue […]