This is Joseph.
This clause in the constitution is getting a lot of attention with respect to Donald Trump:
Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
See this and this, for example.
However, there is an important section in clause 1 of the same amendment:
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
And herein lies the problem. How do you enforce section 3 in view of section 1? Well, obviously there needs to be a legal process and it is not encouraging that these challenges, to date, have not had a great record of success. (Read more…)