Unanimous US Supreme Court Rules President Trump Cannot be Disqualified from the 2024 Ballot

Posted by James Bopp, Jr.Mar 05, 20240 Comments

Unanimous US Supreme Court Rules President Trump Cannot be Disqualified from the 2024 Ballot Terre Haute, Indiana - On Monday, The Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held that states cannot remove President Donald Trump from the presidential ballot. The James Madison Center for Free Speech had submitted an amicus brief to the Court in support of President Trump in this case. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that President Trump was disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because he “engaged in insurrection” regarding the January 6th attack on the US Capitol Yesterday, all nine Justices recognized that Colorado had no authority to remove President Trump from the ballot because the Constitution only gives Congress the authority to enforce its provisions as it relates to federal officeholders or candidates. The Court found that because the states have varying rules and procedures, a single candidate for federal office could be “declared ineligible in some States, but not others, based on the same conduct.” The problems this type of “patchwork” would create is especially evident in a presidential election. The Court recognized that votes “not allowed to be cast” for a presidential candidate in one state would impact not just that state, but would impact states, and voters, across the country. If individual states had this kind of power to disrupt a presidential election process, it could “nullify the votes of millions and change the election result.” “This ruling prevents the outlandish government overreach that several states have attempted to use to remove President Trump from the primary ballot,” stated James Bopp, Jr., lead counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech. “But importantly, this ruling also offers protection from bureaucratic and judicial overreach against other federal officeholders. In 2022, liberal groups tried to use Section Three to remove several candidates for congressional office from the ballot. This decision will prevent these groups from trying to do the same in the future. American democracy depends on the ability of the people to pick its leadership, not bureaucrats or judges. We applaud the Court’s decision today because it protects our precious democracy.” Read Amicus Brief here.

James Madison Center Files Brief to Overturn Mayor’s Conviction for Normal Bidding Practices

Posted by James Bopp, Jr.Feb 12, 20240 Comments

Terre Haute, Indiana – On Friday, the James Madison Center filed a friend of the court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of former Mayor James Snyder of Portage, Indiana, to overturn his conviction for normal, everyday bidding practices. The federal government convicted Mayor Snyder of corruption without proving an actual quid pro quo that is required to show genuine corruption under a law. This would make it illegal to do business with other people who you know or associate with who might also bid for municipal contracts. The federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals erroneously upheld the government’s version of the law and would make millions of people potential criminals at the state and local level. Imagine a public spirited citizen who writes a quick note on a donation to a state candidate: “Thanks for supporting our troops!” Under the government’s version of the law, this “gratuity” would be a crime, even though there was no illegal, corrupt bargain.

The Madison Center Amicus Brief in US Supreme Court Arguing that President Trump Did Not Engage in Insurrection and Cannot be Disqualified from the 2024 Ballot

Posted by James Bopp, Jr.Jan 18, 20240 Comments

On December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that President Trump was disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because he “engaged in insurrection” regarding the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. Therefore, the court ordered that the Colorado Secretary of State could not list him as a candidate on the 2024 presidential primary ballot. But Section Three’s prohibition against having “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” requires a direct, overt act of insurrection, not incitement through speech. The Colorado Supreme Court erred when it held that mere incitement of insurrection was enough.

James Madison Center for Free Speech Comments to House Ways and Means Committee Regarding the Political Activities of Tax-Exempt Organizations

Posted by James Madison CenterSep 08, 20230 Comments

On September 8, in response to a “Request for Information,” the James Madison Center for Free Speech (“JMCFS”) submitted comments to the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee (“Committee”) in support of bright-line IRS standards for tax-exempt organizations in order to rein in the threat to free sp...

Madison Center Asks FEC to Strengthen Rules to Stop Political Committees from Hiding Opposition Research and Narrative Creation as Legal Work

Posted by James Madison CenterOct 04, 20210 Comments

Today, the Madison Center asked the Federal Election Commission to strengthen FEC reporting rules to prevent political committees from hiding payments for opposition research and narrative creation as payments for legal work by their lawyers. For example, the Democratic National Committee (“DNC”)...

James Madison Center for Free Speech Files U.S. Supreme Court Brief Establishing the Dangers of Donor Disclosure from the California Prop 8 Experience

Posted by James Madison CenterFeb 23, 20210 Comments

PRESS RELEASE February 23, 2021 Contact: James Bopp, Jr., General Counsel Phone 812-232-2434; Fax 812-235-3685; [email protected] Today, the James Madison Center for Free Speech (“JMCFS”), filed a friend of the court brief in two U.S. Supreme Court cases considering California's requirement t...

James Madison Center for Free Speech Will Testify in Favor of IRS Rule to Stop Gathering the Personal Information of Donors to 501(c)(4)s

Posted by James Madison CenterFeb 06, 20200 Comments

On February 7, 2020, James Bopp, Jr., General Counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech (“JMCFS”), will testify at the Internal Revenue Service's public hearing on its proposed regulation eliminating the requirement that § 501(c)(4) advocacy groups provide the names and addresses of co...

Opening Brief Filed in U.S. Supreme Court in Challenge to the Federal Biennial, Individual Aggregate Limits on Contributions to Political Parties and Candidates

Posted by James Madison CenterMay 06, 20130 Comments

Today the Republican National Committee filed its opening brief in McCutcheon v. FEC in the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, brought by the Republican National Committee and Shaun McCutcheon, challenges the federal biennial, individual aggregate limits on contributions to candidates and national pol...

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