CDA mayoral candidate: Not taking the 14th

Josh Arnold, who entered the race for Coeur d’Alene mayor this week, said he’s concerned about the size, tone and responsiveness of government.

Those concepts probably wouldn’t distinguish Arnold, a Republican precinct leader and 30-year-old planner for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, from most other candidates, or from many residents of North Idaho.

But here’s one that might: Arnold’s view of the U.S. Constitution, and the authority local government has or doesn’t have over him, resulted in a scuffle in Kootenai County court that required five bailiffs to restrain him. One of those bailiffs wound up with a fractured elbow, and Arnold was cited for contempt of court.

In March, Arnold was in Kootenai County Magistrate Judge Robert Caldwell’s court for a hearing on two counts of misdemeanor child injury. When Caldwell called for him to come up, he refused, saying he was not a citizen under the 14th Amendment and thus not subject to the court’s jurisdiction.

It’s an argument that some people who call themselves patriots or constitutionalists make against submitting to the authority of person elected since the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. It has to do with a distinction they draw between being a citizen of the United States or a citizen of a specific state. It can be a complicated and seemingly convoluted debate, but it rarely yields a good result in a courtroom.