The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, December 19, that former US President Donald Trump is disqualified from contesting for the presidency under the Constitution’s insurrection clause and ordered the secretary of state to exclude his name from the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot.
The landmark decision from the divided Colorado Supreme Court that Trump cannot hold public office under the Civil War-era law is unprecedented, and it marks the first time a court has found him to be ineligible to return to the White House due to his conduct surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The ruling does not apply outside of Colorado, and the state high court, whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors, postponed its decision until January 4, one day before Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold had to certify the candidates for the state’s March 5 primary. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has never before been used to declare a presidential candidate ineligible.
“We conclude that because President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list President Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot,” the majority of the court wrote in an unsigned opinion. “Therefore, the Secretary may not list President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot, nor may she count any write-in votes cast for him.”
Ahead of the 2024 election, lawsuits contesting Trump’s nomination have been filed in over 25 states; nevertheless, the Colorado action, which was brought on behalf of six voters, poses the most immediate threat to his campaign. According to national polls, Trump leads the field of contenders seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
According to a spokeswoman for his campaign, Trump will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. This would set up a high-stakes contest regarding his eligibility to run for office right before voters in early states start casting ballots in the Republican primary. The Colorado Supreme Court decided to postpone its ruling, stating that if an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is filed before January 4th, the stay will be in effect and the secretary will have to include Trump on the 2024 primary ballot until the court makes a ruling.
The Trump campaign’s spokesperson, Steve Cheung, released a statement saying, “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.”
The majority of the seven-member Colorado Supreme Court, which split 4–3, overturned the trial court’s interpretation of Section 3’s breadth and concluded that it covers both the office of the president and a person who has taken an oath of office.
Whether or not Trump is prohibited from holding the presidency under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was at issue in the Colorado case. The goal of the clause is to bar anybody who participated in insurrection and took an oath to defend the Constitution from holding state or federal office.
The majority’s four justices pointed out in their decision that “we travel in uncharted territory, and that this case presents several issues of first impression.”
“These are not lightly drawn judgments. We acknowledge the gravity and importance of the issues at hand,” the majority wrote.
“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.”
The judges dismissed arguments from Trump’s attorneys that the Capitol break by his followers on January 6 was not an uprising. Instead, they found that the case file “amply established that the events of January 6 constituted a concerted and public use of force or threat of force by a group of people to hinder or prevent the U.S. government from taking the actions necessary to accomplish the peaceful transfer of power in this country.”
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump committed insurrection, finding “substantial evidence” that the outgoing president was “laying the groundwork for a claim that the election was rigged” prior to the November presidential fight.
According to the majority, Trump “continued to fan the flames of his supporters’ ire, which he had ignited” on social media and during a rally outside the White House on January 6th, when he made false claims about the election’s integrity.
“President Trump’s direct and express efforts, over several months, exhorting his supporters to march to the Capitol to prevent what he falsely characterized as an alleged fraud on the people of this country were indisputably overt and voluntary,” the Supreme Court justices said.
“President Trump’s direct and express efforts, over several months, exhorting his supporters to march to the Capitol to prevent what he falsely characterized as an alleged fraud on the people of this country were indisputably overt and voluntary,” the justices of the Supreme Court stated.
“These actions constituted overt, voluntary, and direct participation in the insurrection,” according to the majority.
Chief Justice Brian Boatright, Justices Carlos Samour and Maria Berkenkotter, and Justices Richard Gabriel, Melissa Hart, Monica Márquez, and William Hood dissented.
Samour cautioned in his dissent that Trump will probably be barred from the presidential primary ballot in fewer than half of the 50 states due to election regulations that differ from Colorado’s, “risking chaos in our country.”
“This can’t possibly be the outcome the framers intended,” he stated.