Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits former government officials from holding public office again if they have engaged in insurrection or rebellion. Among them was the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits the states from depriving "any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.Amendment 14: Section 3 no citizen can become a member of the government if they took part in the rebellion. An Insurrection is best defined as concerted forcible resistance to the authority of government to execute the laws. Lawmakers drafted Section 3 of the 14th Amendment as a means to block former Confederate officers who were elected to office. More in The Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court had never ruled on the meaning or application of the insurrection clause. Although their arguments lost in the courts, the Republican Party was formed to advance an antislavery political agenda, eventually bringing about abolition. Forgotten insurrection clause of 14th Amendment used to force members of Congress to defend their actions on Jan. 6.