December 2023 – Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc.: INTERVENORS-RESPONDENTS’ MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION TO MANDAMUS
Relators want this Court and Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade to wade into Presidential politics by issuing a writ of mandamus declaring Donald J. Trump ineligible for the Presidency and removing him from the Oregon primary ballot. That is inappropriate for several reasons.
First, Relators lack standing. They assert no interest in this case other than the generalized interest in elections shared by all Oregon citizens. That is not sufficient to invoke this Court’s mandamus jurisdiction. Across the nation and across several presidential elections, many challenges to candidates’ eligibility have failed for lack of standing. This one does too.
Second, the Secretary correctly recognizes that Oregon law does not authorize her to police presidential primary candidates’ qualifications. Oregon’s election statutes tell the Secretary exactly what criteria to apply in determining which presidential candidates shall appear on primary ballots. Those specific criteria do not include any inquiry into a candidate’s eligibility to be President. Multiple other States have similar statutes, and their courts have held that state officials lack authority to examine the qualifications of presidential primary candidates. The same is true in Oregon: Secretary Griffin-Valade has correctly concluded that state law does not require or allow her to do what Relators want her to do.
Third, mandamus is not the appropriate remedy here, for multiple separate reasons. For one thing, Relators are asking this Court to resolve a complex factual dispute that has never been addressed by the Secretary, and as to which no factual record exists. Determining that a presidential candidate “engaged in insurrection” in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment—which Relators want this Court to do—is the opposite of the kind of clear legal duty enforceable by mandamus and is outside the scope of authority of the secretary of State. Additionally, Relators have not established that the ordinary course of law is inadequate here. Oregon law expressly allows for a direct appeal of the Secretary’s actions or inactions, and there is no reason Relators could not have followed that ordinary path, and a request to do so now is untimely. Their evident preference to skip the Oregon Administrative Procedures Act and normal appellate process does not remotely warrant the exercise of this Court’s extraordinary mandamus jurisdiction.
Fourth, under the U.S. Constitution, disputes over a presidential candidate’s qualifications are non-justiciable political questions. A long line of decisions from across the country—and again, spanning several presidential election cycles— recognizes that deciding who can be President is committed by the Constitution to the electoral and legislative processes, not the courts. The Constitution certainly does not contemplate questions of presidential qualifications being decided piecemeal in a 51-jurisdiction marathon of ballot-access litigation.
Fifth, long-settled law establishes that Section Three can be enforced only as prescribed by Congress—not under state law as Relators seek.
Sixth, even if Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment were enforceable by mandamus in this Court, it does not apply to these factual circumstances. Relators’ suit is premature because even when Section Three applies, it bars only holding office, not running for it. Moreover, Section Three does not apply to the Presidency at all.
Seventh and finally, President Trump simply did not violate Section Three. The events of January 6 included serious crimes and violence by others, but they did not amount to an “insurrection” within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. On top of that, President Trump did nothing to “engage in” the riot at the Capitol—to the contrary, he instructed the crowd to protest “peacefully” and, when violence occurred, he called for it to stop.
For all these reasons, the writ should be denied.
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