(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/09/2023) A Court of Claims judge has invited former President Donald J. Trump and/or his presidential campaign to seek involvement in two lawsuits challenging his place on the state's 2024 presidential primary and general election ballots.
The invitation came Monday in Judge James Robert Redford's expedited scheduling order in LaBrant et al. v. Jocelyn Benson and a similar suit, Robert Davis v. Jocelyn Benson, noting the cases would "take priority" on his docket.
Attorney Mark Brewer, who represents the Robert LaBrant plaintiffs, said his clients "are pleased that the court is expediting a decision" in the case.
Redford ordered Benson to respond to the lawsuits by 5 p.m. Oct. 16 addressing whether she has a duty and authority to decide if a candidate may be placed on a ballot before court review.
Redford also wants, in part, a response on whether Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies to the offices of the president and vice president and the possible application of the 1872 Amnesty Act.
Then-President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Amnesty Act in May 1872, eliminating the Fourteenth Amendment's political provisions that barred former Confederates from holding office.
Reply briefs are due by 5 p.m. Oct. 30 and Trump and his team have until Oct. 23 to notify the court if they wish to seek amicus status.
LaBrant, a former counsel for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, is one of four plaintiffs who argues Trump was disqualified from holding public office for his role in inciting and facilitating the "violent insurrection" at the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.
Davis' suit, filed in September, also challenges Trump's name on the 2024 ballot as well as seeks a judgment declaring the Secretary of State cannot change the date of the presidential primary from March 12 to Feb. 27.
