Former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s 2024 front-runner, was booted from the primary ballot in Colorado on Tuesday night after four Democratic-appointed state Supreme Court justices ruled he was ineligible for the White House.
It marked the first time in United States history that Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which disqualifies insurrectionists from holding public office, has been used to deem a presidential candidate ineligible for the White House.
Here, The Post delves into what the historic decision could mean for the 2024 presidential election.
What was the ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court?
Four of the seven justices of the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday night that Trump, 77, participated in a rebellion against the United States when his supporters ransacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, delaying the certification of victory election of President-elect Joe Biden in 2020. .
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday night that the events of January 6, 2021 constitute an insurrection and that former President Donald Trump did “participate” in the alleged rebellion. Colorado Judiciary
“President Trump did not simply incite the insurrection,” the majority opinion reads.
“Even as the Capitol siege was in full swing, he continued to support it by repeatedly demanding that the vice president [Mike] Pence refuses to do his constitutional duty and calls senators to convince them to stop counting electoral votes.
“These actions constituted open, voluntary and direct participation in the insurrection.”
However, the majority also noted that Trump has not been convicted by a jury of inciting an insurrection, and that the Colorado Supreme Court did not have the right to subpoena records or compel witnesses to testify, among other rights granted to defendants. criminals.
The justices cited a rarely used “insurrection clause” of the 14th Amendment, which was originally intended to prevent former Confederates from gaining federal power. AP
What is the Insurrection Clause?
Often called the Disqualification Clause, Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War.
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, nor an elector for President and Vice President, nor hold any office, civil or military, in the United States or in any state, who, having previously taken the oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, in support of the Constitution of the United States, shall have participated in an insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to their enemies,” the clause states.
“But Congress can, by a two-thirds vote of each House, eliminate such a disability.”
There are a number of debates surrounding that language, such as what exactly constitutes an insurrection and whether it prohibits someone from running for president.
Trump’s legal team previously argued that the clause does not directly prohibit anyone from running for office.
“Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment does not prohibit someone from running for office; prohibits anyone from holding office, and even then only if Congress decides not to lift the ban,” his team wrote in a document filed in October.
Can Trump still run for president?
Yes. Elections are conducted by individual states, and it is not uncommon for candidates to appear on the ballot in some states but not others.
Technically, Trump is still allowed to be on the Colorado ballot until January 4, 2024, because the state Supreme Court opted to stay its decision until then, pending an expected appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. .
Colorado’s Republican primary is scheduled for March 5, 2024, although the state Republican Party has said it will shift to a caucus system if the voting ban remains in place.
Has the Insurrection Clause been invoked before?
Section 3 has been invoked at least eight times since it went into effect, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, which helped bring Colorado’s case against Trump.
Five of those actions were taken against former Confederates, one of whom, Zebulon Vance, was elected to the Senate from North Carolina after the Civil War and served in that position for 15 years.
A more recent case is that of socialist Rep. Victor Berger of Wisconsin, who was denied his House seat after his conviction under the Espionage Act in 1919 for opposing U.S. involvement in World War I. . His conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1921 and he was elected to Congress three more times.
Last year, a New Mexico judge removed County Commissioner Couy Griffin from office after he was found guilty of trespassing for his role in the Capitol riot.
How did the Trump campaign respond?
The Trump campaign is expected to appeal the controversial decision to the US Supreme Court.
He said in a statement that he has “full confidence” that the U.S. Supreme Court would quickly side with the former president and “finally put an end to these anti-American lawsuits.”
The Trump campaign is expected to appeal the controversial decision to the US Supreme Court. AFP via Getty Images
Trump’s camp also criticized the decision as “undemocratic” and “completely flawed.”
The former president also lashed out at the decision on his Truth Social platform Wednesday morning, calling it a “sad day in America” and saying, “What a shame for our country.”
Was Trump given a trial?
The high court justices held oral arguments earlier this month and read briefs from Trump’s lawyers.
Technically, Section 3 deals with a person’s qualifications to run for office, not whether they committed a crime.
Trump has not even been charged with fomenting a rebellion or insurrection, although accusations that he tried to illegally overturn the 2020 election underpin 17 of the 91 criminal charges he faces.
He has not yet been convicted in any criminal case.
What would happen in an appeal?
It is unclear how the U.S. Supreme Court would rule if it agrees to take the case, but it is dominated by a conservative majority, including three Trump appointees, some of whom have long been skeptical of granting courts powers that are not specifically outlined in the Constitution. .
But Chris Landau, a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and the late Antonin Scalia, told Fox News Tuesday night that he is confident the Supreme Court will “take a look” at the Colorado decision and the will revoke.
What does this mean for other states looking to knock Trump off the ballot?
Voters and advocacy groups have also filed lawsuits to block Trump from the ballots in more than a dozen states, but at least seven of them have failed.
Voters and advocacy groups have also filed lawsuits to block Trump from the ballots in more than a dozen states over the Jan. 6 riot, but at least seven of them have failed. AP
Courts in New Hampshire and Florida have dismissed similar cases on procedural and jurisdictional grounds, with some rulings stating that courts do not have the power to unilaterally disqualify candidates.
In Michigan, the appeals court decided last week that it would not prevent Trump from appearing on the 2024 Republican primary ballot.
In Minnesota, the state Supreme Court also said the state party can put anyone on its primary ballot, but said petitioners could try again in the general election context.
Judges in other states are said to be examining what happens with the Colorado decision before making their decisions.
How could this affect the 2024 elections?
Even if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the ruling, it could be inconsequential to the presidential election because Trump does not need to win Colorado and is not expected to win it in the general election.
The state only offers 10 electoral votes of the 270 needed to secure the White House.
It tends to lean Democratic, and President Biden won the state by more than 13 percentage points in 2020.
Experts say Tuesday’s ruling could help propel Trump back to the Oval Office by emboldening his supporters who have embraced his message that the criminal cases against him are unwarranted. AMANDA SABGA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
But experts say Tuesday’s ruling could help propel Trump back to the Oval Office by emboldening his supporters who have embraced his message that the criminal cases against him are unjustified.
Following the ruling, some of his supporters reiterated the claim, saying they are part of a plot to prevent him from winning the presidency again.
“This is un-American, and Democrats are so afraid of President Trump winning on November 5, 2024 that they are illegally trying to remove him from the ballot,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY). he said in a statement.
Some of Trump’s 2024 rivals have also spoken out against the ruling.
Supporters and even some political rivals of the former president have argued that the lawsuits against the former president are part of a plot to prevent him from winning the presidency again. AFP via Getty Images
In response, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy pledged to withdraw from the Colorado primary and called on other candidates to do the same, saying the court’s ruling is “what looks like a real attack on democracy.”
Even former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a staunch critic of Trump, spoke out against it.
“I don’t think it’s good for our country if a court excludes you from the election,” he told voters in New Hampshire.
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn