Former President Donald Trump has lost the first of several attempts to throw out a lawsuit that seeks to block him from the 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado, based on the 14th Amendment’s prohibition against insurrectionists holding public office.
Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace this week rejected Trump’s bid to get the lawsuit dismissed on free-speech grounds.
The former president still has several pending challenges against the case, which was initiated by a liberal government watchdog group.
The 14th Amendment doesn’t require a conviction, and innocent until proven guilty doesn’t apply because this is a civil suit.
I’ll be surprised if this doesn’t go all the way to SCOTUS though.
Just for further clarification… it’s not a factual innocence. In reality the line is ‘a presumption of innocence until proven guilty’- it’s a prescription for how one is to be treated (like an innocent person) during the process of proving that guilt in a criminal proceeding.
If one kills another without just cause, they are guilty of murder. It may or may not ever reach a court of law, and they may be acquitted, but they’re still guilty of murder. guilt is determined by the act (and the motive of the act,)
To follow your apt points: it is important to remember that “not guilty” and “innocent” are two different things.