July 9, 1868. Section 3: “No person shall…hold any office, civil or military, under the United States,…,who having previously taken an oath,…, as an officer of the United States,…, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

The language is fairly clear. But how is this law judged or enforced? Can the U.S. Supreme Court hear such a case? Certainly, they have accepted this one, now.