RI bill blocks insurrectionists from state jobs, holding office and more. But is it legal?
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PROVIDENCE – A little more than two years after the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a group of Democratic lawmakers in Rhode Island is seeking to bar convicted insurrectionists from holding office.
The bill made its appearance on Friday, the day Bernard Joseph Sirr, a 47-year-old North Kingstown man who participated in the breach of the U.S. Capitol, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of interfering with police officers during a civil disorder, according to federal prosecutors. His sentencing is scheduled for May 12.
Sirr was one of three Rhode Islanders charged in connection with the siege, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump forced their way into the Capitol, breaking windows and assaulting members of the Capitol Police in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election as president.
Democratic lawmakers in at least three other states have introduced similar bills, aimed at sending the message that "those who engage in an attempted overthrow of the government shouldn’t be allowed to run it," according to an Associated Press story on similar efforts in Connecticut, New York and Virginia.
What would the Rhode Island bill do?
The legislation in the states comes after the House Jan. 6 committee’s final report, which found Donald Trump criminally engaged in a conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election he lost.
The bills vary in scope.
For example, the bill introduced in Virginia earlier this month would prohibit anyone convicted of a felony related to an attempted insurrection or riot from serving in a position of public trust – including those involving policymaking, law enforcement, safety, education or health care.
But it would permanently ban "any person convicted of sedition, insurrection, rebellion, or a [related] felony ... [from] being a candidate for or holding public office in the state" and also "from being employed by the state or any political subdivision thereof."
How would the bill run afoul of RI's Constitution?
It is not yet clear, however, if the disqualifications sought by the legislators would require an amendment to the state Constitution.
Asked for his thoughts on the bill, Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, told The Journal: "Whatever one's sentiments about the bill's intentions, it is in clear conflict with our state Constitution, which explicitly bars only incarcerated felons from voting.
"The R.I. Constitution further specifies that people disqualified from running for office because of criminal convictions are eligible to run once three years have elapsed after completion of their sentence. A statute cannot override these clear constitutional commands and limits."
If passed, the legislation would, in effect, put a version of the 14th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution – barring insurrectionists from holding office – into state law.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment says: "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress... or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same."
A Republican Rhode Island lawmaker, Justin Price, acknowledged that he "marched to the Capitol with 1 million peaceful patriots" on Jan. 6, but denied taking part in the violence.
Price was not charged, and he ignored calls for his resignation. But he was defeated in his 2022 bid for reelection to his House District 39 seat, representing Exeter, Hopkinton and Richmond.
On Monday, Republican Rep. Michael Chippendale, the House minority leader, said the law should come down hard on violent rioters, but he worries that the vague language in the bill about a felony committed "in relation to" sedition, insurrection, rebellion could snag a protester exercising his or her 1st Amendment rights.
"There's a very strong political motivation behind this bill. I get it," he said. "Let's make sure if we are going to pass this that we are not disenfranchising folks."
Nearly 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes in the Capitol riot, with about half of them pleading guilty to riot-related charges and more than three dozen convicted at trial, according to the Associated Press.
"The charges range from misdemeanors for those accused of entering the Capitol illegally but not participating in violence to felony seditious conspiracy for far-right extremist group members accused of plotting to stop the transfer of presidential power," according to the AP report.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI bill would block convicted insurrectionists from RI offices or jobs
