The supreme court's dilemma
par Brigitte Ades Jean Dubois - Lundi 12 Février 2024
In this essay, we salute the visionary spirit of the drafters of the 14th Amendment, which now gives the Supreme Court the power to solve the incredible problem posed by the insurrection of January 6, 2021. Whether described as an insurrection or a rebellion, the event that culminated in the assault on the Capitol bears many similarities to the three coups d'états that marked France in the years leading up to the drafting of this amendment.
We will show that the drafters of this amendment knew in detail the circumstances of the events in France, because they drafted these amendments as close as possible to the realities of a successful coup, and how useful their work is, just a few days before the Supreme Court's decision, whatever its verdict. The scenarios: either in the spirit of the 1787 Constitution and according to the tradition of exegesis "originalism or textualism" in English, a method that this Court has always favored up to now, which is to respect the will of those who wrote the texts of law without worrying about the interpretations that may arise from the current context. Or it will appear to be perjuring itself and lose all credibility, disavowing the will of the founding fathers and acting contra legem by claiming that, since candidate Trump did not succeed in his insurrection, it was not one.
But this second scenario would be a great disappointment not only for a large proportion of Americans who believe in their institutions, but also for international opinion. This decision will indicate whether in these troubled times, when populism and illiberalism threaten many democracies around the world, the United States has the rigor and intention to stay the course and show the way as it has so often done in the past.
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