Yesterday Colorado banned Trump from that state's primary ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court issued the decision, which almost certainly now will be appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
A divided 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.
A lawsuit is attempting to have Oregon ban Trump from our state's primary ballot. So reported the Oregon Capital Chronicle on December 6.
The national advocacy group trying to block former President Donald Trump from appearing on primary ballots filed a lawsuit with the Oregon Supreme Court on behalf of five Oregon voters on Wednesday.
The legal complaint comes less than a week after Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade announced she wouldn’t keep Trump’s name off primary ballots under advice from the state Department of Justice, who told her she lacks the authority to determine whether presidential primary candidates are qualified.
Attorneys for Free Speech for People, who filed the state lawsuit, disagree. They’re seeking an order from the state Supreme Court requiring Griffin-Valade to disqualify Trump from the primary and general election ballot, or, alternatively, an order directing Griffin-Valade to demonstrate why she shouldn’t be required to disqualify him.
The group maintains that Trump is ineligible to run for election because of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that no one who previously took an oath to uphold the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” can hold office.
Trump’s behavior in late 2020 and early 2021, including attempts to overturn election results and encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters as Congress tried to certify electoral votes, qualify as insurrection, according to the lawsuit.
I agree that Trump supported the insurrection at the nation's Capitol. And I detest Trump, viewing him as a horrible person who was a terrible president.
If he were to get another four years in the White House by winning the presidency in 2024, there's no doubt that Trump would be even more dangerous to our democracy, the Constitution, and world order. Nonetheless, I don't think Trump should be kicked off the ballot in any state, including Oregon.
As a practical matter, almost certainly this wouldn't make any difference either in the GOP primary or in the general election. Trump's lead over his Republican rivals is so large, it's hard to see how ballot bans in a few states would make any real difference. And in the general election, any state that would ban Trump wouldn't be at all likely to favor him for president. Then there's the not insignificant fact that Trump hasn't been convicted of insurrection by any court.
Even the Washington D.C. case brought by Jack Smith and the Justice Department doesn't accuse Trump of insurrection. The charges there include obstructing an official proceeding, the counting of electoral college votes, but not insurrection.
Yes, I consider that Trump did indeed actively support the January 6 insurrection, but there's a good chance the Supreme Court will overturn the Colorado ruling on that ground: absence of a trial and conviction on the insurrection charge. (The Colorado case included a ruling from a district court judge that Trump engaged in insurrection. However, the hearing that led to the ruling wasn't a full-blown trial about insurrection.)
I'm glad that attempts are being made to hold Trump accountable under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. I'm just dubious that this is a viable means of preventing what would be a national disaster if Trump had another four years as president.
Kicking someone off the ballot is a big deal, especially when that person is an ex-president running to be elected again. Trump thrives on making himself out to be a victim of the deep state and left-wing haters. It's very unlikely that the U.S. Supreme Court is going to agree with Colorado that he should be banned from the ballot.
Most likely all that's going to happen, in the end, is that Republican voters are going to dig in on their support for Trump. He'll still be on the ballot in all 50 states, with an added grievance to use in his campaigning: failed attempts to prevent him from running for president.
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