The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race. The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
Quick Read
- Colorado Supreme Court Ruling: The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to run for the presidency under the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, Section 3. This decision marks the first use of the insurrection clause to disqualify a presidential candidate.
- Background of the Case: The ruling came after a district court judge found that Trump incited the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack but did not bar him from the ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court overturned this decision, stating that Trump is disqualified from holding presidential office.
- Implications of the Ruling: This decision has significant implications as it sets up a potential showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court. While Trump lost Colorado by a significant margin in 2020, the concern is that similar decisions in other states could impact his ability to run in key states.
- Deadline for Resolution: The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision is stayed until Jan. 4, 2023, or until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case. Colorado needs to resolve the issue by Jan. 5, 2023, to print its presidential primary ballots.
- Trump’s Response: Trump’s legal team has indicated they will immediately appeal the disqualification to the U.S. Supreme Court. His campaign is currently preparing a response to the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling.
- Legal Context: The case revolves around Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, designed to prevent former Confederates from holding government office after the Civil War. The provision bars anyone who took an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection against it from holding office.
- District Court’s Initial Ruling: The district judge initially ruled that Trump had engaged in insurrection but allowed him to remain on the ballot, arguing that the presidency might not be covered by the insurrection clause.
- Colorado Supreme Court’s Interpretation: The Colorado Supreme Court disagreed with the district court’s interpretation, siding with the plaintiffs who argued that excluding low-level offices but not the presidency from the insurrection clause would be illogical.
- Nationwide Lawsuits: This case is part of a broader series of lawsuits filed nationwide seeking to disqualify Trump under the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause.
- Potential for National Impact: The ruling in Colorado could set a precedent, influencing decisions in other states and potentially affecting Trump’s candidacy in crucial states for the 2024 presidential election.
The Associated Press has the story:
Colorado SCOUT bans Trump from State’s ballot under Constitution’s insurrection clause
Newslooks- DENVER (AP)
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race.
The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
“A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court wrote in its 4-3 decision.
Colorado’s highest court overturned a ruling from a district court judge who found that Trump incited an insurrection for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, but said he could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that the provision was intended to cover the presidency.
The court stayed its decision until Jan. 4, or until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” wrote the court’s majority. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”
Trump’s attorneys had promised to appeal any disqualification immediately to the nation’s highest court, which has the final say about constitutional matters. His campaign said it was working on a response to the ruling.
Trump lost Colorado by 13 percentage points in 2020 and doesn’t need the state to win next year’s presidential election. But the danger for the former president is that more courts and election officials will follow Colorado’s lead and exclude Trump from must-win states.
Colorado officials say the issue must be settled by Jan. 5, the deadline for the state to print its presidential primary ballots.
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed nationally to disqualify Trump under Section 3, which was designed to keep former Confederates from returning to government after the Civil War. It bars from office anyone who swore an oath to “support” the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it, and has been used only a handful of times since the decade after the Civil War.
The Colorado case is the first where the plaintiffs succeeded. After a weeklong hearing in November, District Judge Sarah B. Wallace found that Trump indeed had “engaged in insurrection” by inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and her ruling that kept him on the ballot was a fairly technical one.
Trump’s attorneys convinced Wallace that, because the language in Section 3 refers to “officers of the United States” who take an oath to “support” the Constitution, it must not apply to the president, who is not included as an “officer of the United States” elsewhere in the document and whose oath is to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution.
The provision also says offices covered include senator, representative, electors of the president and vice president, and all others “under the United States,” but doesn’t name the presidency.
The state’s highest court didn’t agree, siding with attorneys for six Colorado Republican and unaffiliated voters who argued that it was nonsensical to imagine the framers of the amendment, fearful of former Confederates returning to power, would bar them from low-level offices but not the highest one in the land.
“You’d be saying a rebel who took up arms against the government couldn’t be a county sheriff, but could be the president,” attorney Jason Murray said in arguments before the court in early December.
