Document Type
Essay
Publication Title
California Law Review Online
Publication Date
2025
DOI
https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38J38KK3C
Abstract
The Reconstruction Congress envisioned a comprehensive set of rights and structural protections in the Fourteenth Amendment to establish and preserve a multiracial democracy. The Fourteenth Amendment’s third section, the Insurrection Clause, may seldom have been enforced in recent memory, but it remains a vital part of the Amendment’s framework. The Insurrection Clause bars any state or federal government official who participates in a rebellion or insurrection after taking an oath to support the Constitution from serving in such a position again. In Trump v. Anderson, the Supreme Court was given a choice to either enforce the Insurrection Clause’s protection of Black political participation or condone insurrection. In keeping with its long tradition of anti-Black jurisprudence, the Court chose the latter.
Recommended Citation
Brandon Hasbrouck, Insurrection and Black Political Participation, 15 Calif. L. Rev. Online 1 (2025).
