Meanwhile, Segall argues against the authors’ claim that the amendment’s provisions are “self-executing,” that they can be applied to Trump or any other supposed insurrectionist immediately. This is acknowledged by Baude and Paulsen, to be sure, who argue at length that Chase was wrong. It should not happen, it would not work if it did happen, John Roberts and four more justices would not uphold it, and it would license political chaos to no good purpose whatsoever. And if the legal theorist’s response is that this isn’t the “best” way to deal with Trump, it’s just the way that the Constitution requires, then so much the worse for their theory of the Constitution. There is an irony here, which is that a similar kind of legal mentality influenced Trump’s campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

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Persons: Segall, Salmon Chase, Baude, Paulsen, Chase, Donald Trump, Salmon, —, … I’m, John Roberts, it’s, John Eastman’s, Mike Pence, interpose, Joe Biden’s, Pence Organizations: Trump, Eastman Locations: United States