Current:Home > NewsJudge to hear arguments as Michigan activists try to keep Trump off the ballot-LoTradeCoin
Judge to hear arguments as Michigan activists try to keep Trump off the ballot
View Date:2024-12-23 21:58:44
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A judge in Michigan is expected to hear arguments Thursday on whether Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has the authority to keep Donald Trump’s name off state ballots for president.
Activists are suing Benson in the Michigan Court of Claims to force her to keep Trump’s name off ballots and to assess Trump’s constitutional qualifications to serve a second term as president.
Meanwhile, attorneys for the former president are demanding that Trump’s name be allowed on the 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot.
Arguments were scheduled to begin Thursday morning in Grand Rapids before Judge James Robert Redford.
Activists — in two separate suits — point to a section of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment that prohibits a person from running for federal office if they have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the U.S. or given aid or comfort to those who have.
Liberal groups also have filed lawsuits in Colorado and Minnesota to bar Trump from the ballot, portraying him as the inciter of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which was intended to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win.
The groups cite a rarely used constitutional prohibition against holding office for those who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution but then “engaged in insurrection” against it. The two-sentence clause in the 14th Amendment has been used only a handful of times since the years after the Civil War.
But the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit citing the provision. The court’s ruling said its decision applied only to the state’s primary.
Free Speech For People, a group representing petitioners before the Minnesota Supreme Court, also represents petitioners in one of the Michigan cases against Benson.
Trump is considered the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Benson already has said in a filing that Michigan’s Legislature does not give her the authority to determine whether a candidate for president may be disqualified for the state ballot under the 14th Amendment or to assess a candidate’s constitutional qualifications to serve as president.
It’s a “federal constitutional question of enormous consequence” whether Trump cannot appear as a presidential candidate on state ballots, Benson wrote. “Michigan courts have held that administrative agencies generally do not have the power to determine constitutional questions.”
However, she added that she will follow the direction of the court either way.
veryGood! (44759)
Related
- Bluesky has added 1 million users since the US election as people seek alternatives to X
- GOP businessman Sandy Pensler joins crowded field of Senate candidates in Michigan
- Woman found dead by rock climbers in Nevada in 1997 is identified: First lead in over 20 years on this cold case
- HGTV's Hilary Farr Leaving Love It or List It After 19 Seasons
- A crowd of strangers brought 613 cakes and then set out to eat them
- Judge rejects calls to halt winter construction work on Willow oil project in Alaska during appeal
- What is January's birthstone? Get to know the the winter month's dazzling gem.
- Ronaldo walks off to chants of ‘Messi, Messi’ as his team loses 3-0 in Riyadh derby
- Satire publication The Onion acquires Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
- America Ferrera Says It's Ridiculous How Her Body Was Perceived in Hollywood
Ranking
- Apologetic rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine gets 45 days in prison for probation violations
- It’s not your imagination. High school seniors are more over the top than ever before.
- Associated Press correspondent Roland Prinz, who spent decades covering Europe, dies at age 85
- NASA Artemis moon landing in 2025 unlikely as challenges mount, GAO report says
- Tua Tagovailoa playing with confidence as Miami Dolphins hope MNF win can spark run
- Harris heads to Dubai to tackle delicate tasks of talking climate and Israel-Hamas war
- HGTV's Hilary Farr Leaving Love It or List It After 19 Seasons
- DeSantis says Florida GOP chair should resign amid rape allegation
Recommendation
-
Shocked South Carolina woman walks into bathroom only to find python behind toilet
-
Agriculture officials confirm 25th case of cattle anthrax in North Dakota this year
-
Dez Bryant came for ESPN’s Malika Andrews over Josh Giddey coverage. He missed the mark.
-
102-year-old toy inventor, star of 'Eddy’s World' documentary, attributes longevity to this
-
Why Suits' Gabriel Macht Needed Time Away From Harvey Specter After Finale
-
Republicans say new Georgia voting districts comply with court ruling, but Democrats disagree
-
Las Vegas police search for suspect after 5 homeless people are shot, killing 2
-
Insulin users beware: your Medicare drug plan may drop your insulin. What it means for you