Michael McConnell, a professor at Stanford Law School and a former federal appeals court judge, notes that while the U.S. Department of Justice has charged more than 1,100 Jan. 6 defendants – including, last month, Mr. Trump – none of them have been charged with insurrection. However, more than a dozen defendants have been convicted or pleaded guilty to the related charge of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to up to 22 years in prison.

The more important question, he says, “is whether the people should be deprived of being able to vote for the candidate of their choice when it appears.”