The Boynton Beach attorney whose lawsuit against former President Donald Trump was dismissed by a federal judge is considering refiling his lawsuit in state court.
Lawrence Caplan sued Pres. Trump in the Southern District of Florida on Aug. 24 alleging that Trump should be banned from the 2024 ballot based on Section 3 of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which states public officials who have 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion’ may be disqualified from public office.
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg, who was appointed by former U.S. Pres. Barack Obama, dismissed Caplan’s complaint for lack of standing.
“Plaintiffs lack standing to challenge Defendant’s qualifications for seeking the Presidency, as the injuries alleged are not cognizable and not particular to them,” Rosenberg wrote in her Aug. 28 opinion. “Plaintiffs allege they will suffer injury if Defendant is allowed to run for President and prevail when he could be disqualified or removed from office. However, an individual citizen does not have standing to challenge whether another individual is qualified to hold public office.”
Caplan would have to run for U.S. President to gain standing, according to Rosenberg’s ruling. However, Caplan said he is more likely to refile in state court than to campaign for the presidency.
“You don't have to file a lawsuit,” he said. “You could just petition the state election commissioner, which a lot of people are doing in various states but the problem in Florida is the state election commissioner is not going to decide to ban him from the ballot so, you're going to have to go to court anyhow.”
Caplan was inspired to file the lawsuit five days after reading an Aug. 19 article in The Atlantic called The Constitution Prohibits Donald Trump From Ever Being President Again.
“Before I read the article, I was under the impression you had to have a judgment against Trump for insurrection and that article made it very clear that I was wrong,” Caplan told the Florida Record. “It's a self-executing clause, the disqualification clause, and you just need to have an indictment based on the facts. Nothing more.”
Caplan, whose co-plaintiffs are Barry Butin and Michael Strianese, is required to file the state lawsuit before the Florida primary in Spring 2024.
Free Speech for People is also filing lawsuits nationwide, according to Caplan.
"There's plenty of time for a state lawsuit," he added. "I'm going to hold my fire for a few days here and talk with some people to see what else is going on and who else may be filing and then make a decision."