Ed already posted this in the headlines but given the significance of this move it probably deserves a little more space. NBC News is calling it a “bombshell” decision.
In a bombshell decision, Colorado’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that former President Donald Trump’s candidacy in the state’s primary next year is prohibited on constitutional grounds…
“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” the Colorado ruling said. “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”…
Section 3 of the Civil War-era 14th Amendment says: “No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States … who, having previously taken an oath … as an officer of the United States, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
So what happened here? Well, a lower court ruling previously concluded that Trump had incited an insurrection on Jan. 6, however it also found that the president was not subject to section 3 of the 14th Amendment. But the state supreme court just overturned that part of the decision with a 4-3 vote.
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 group that filed this particular lawsuit, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, bills itself as nonpartisan but it’s liberal and aligned with the Democrats. This afternoon they are celebrating the victory.
BREAKING: WE WON!
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Donald Trump is disqualified from serving as president and barred from appearing on ballots for president in Colorado under the 14th Amendment.
Read more here: https://t.co/NAVXrJa5uZ
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) December 19, 2023
From the group’s website:
“The court’s decision today affirms what our clients alleged in this lawsuit: that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist who disqualified himself from office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment based on his role in the January 6th attack on the Capitol, and that Secretary Griswold must keep him off of Colorado’s primary ballot. It is not only historic and justified, but is necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country,” said CREW President Noah Bookbinder. “Our Constitution clearly states that those who violate their oath by attacking our democracy are barred from serving in government. It has been an honor to represent the petitioners, and we look forward to ensuring that this vitally important ruling stands.”…
This is the second time that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to bar officials who participated in the January 6th insurrection from elected office. Last year, CREW represented residents of New Mexico who sued to remove county commissioner Couy Griffin from office, the first successful case to be brought under Section 3 since 1869. The judge in that case determined January 6th was an insurrection under the Constitution and removed Griffin from office based on his engagement in the insurrection.
Trump lost the state of Colorado pretty handily in 2020 so there’s probably no situation in which he had a real shot at it next year. The threat to his campaign is that this spreads to other states. In fact, similar cases have already failed in several other states.
The Colorado Supreme Court is the first court to find that the disqualification clause applies to Mr. Trump, an argument his opponents have been making across the country. Similar lawsuits in Minnesota and New Hampshire were dismissed on procedural grounds. A judge in Michigan ruled last month that the issue was political and not for him to decide, and an appeals court affirmed the decision not to disqualify him. The plaintiffs there have appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Trump’s spokesman denounced the ruling and said Trump’s team would “swiftly appeal” to the Supreme Court.
Trump Campaign Spokesman Steven Cheung wrote in a statement that an appeal would be filed on Tuesday night.
“Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice. Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls. They have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November,” Cheung wrote.
“The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision. We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these unAmerican lawsuits,” he added.
The Supreme Court will certainly take this up and will have to decide which lower courts are right about the 14th Amendment. I’m not sure what these lawsuits actually intended to achieve but there’s a chance they could backfire. Trump wins when he’s getting all of the attention. This is going to guarantee he gets all the attention for the next week or so.
Here’s Trump’s reaction:
🚨 BREAKING: Donald Trump reacts to the Colorado Supreme Court removing him from the 2024 ballot
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 20, 2023
A few more reactions:
Colorado Supreme Court, by a vote of 4-3, beclowns itself and its state. SCOTUS should move quickly to reverse this idiocy. The politicization of courts at all levels is greatly damaging to the rule of law. It should a 9-0 reversal and it should be quick. https://t.co/42rIpOmUbE
— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) December 19, 2023
The U.S. has put sanctions on other countries for doing exactly what the Colorado Supreme Court has done today
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 19, 2023
Donald Trump should not be prevented from being President by any court. He should be prevented from being President of the United States by the voters of this country. pic.twitter.com/77ChhLFkFz
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) December 20, 2023
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