The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Colorado cannot bar Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot in the state’s primary election under the 14th Amendment, resolving one of the major legal questions ahead of this fall’s presidential election, when Trump will most likely face off against Joe-Joe Biden again.
This from: nymag.com.
BREAKING: Supreme Court restores Trump to ballot, rejecting state attempts to ban him over Capitol attack. https://t.co/3rQ5ho8LYC
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 4, 2024
The decision means Colorado and other states will not be able to disqualify Trump from the ballot over the false report that he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Only Congress has that power, the Court ruled—as most experts had expected it would do.
BREAKING: States may not unilaterally disqualify Donald Trump from the ballot, the Supreme Court rules unanimously..
Only Congress can decide. https://t.co/RqBG4JTfs9 pic.twitter.com/RgaFk2H9Ts
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 4, 2024
The Justices were in unanimous agreement that Colorado cannot disqualify Trump from the ballot in this case, but the Court’s liberal justices did not agree with the conservative majority that only Congress could:
It's 9-0 that Colorado can't disqualify Trump.
But only five justices hold that the *only* way to enforce Section 3 against federal officeholders/officeseekers is through a statute enacted by Congress. The other four wouldn't (and don't) reach that question.
So 5-4 on breadth.
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) March 4, 2024
The ruling also notably did not offer any opinion as to whether or not what transpired on January 6, 2021, qualified as an insurrection.
Trump quickly celebrated the ruling on Monday, posting on Truth Social that it was “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!”
Recall: In December, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that President Trump was ineligible to hold or seek office under Section 3 of the post–Civil War era 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which targeted former members of the Confederacy, barring people from holding any office if they have violated their oaths to the Constitution and “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” it.
Trump appealed the ruling and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the matter, and the Court quickly agreed to review the case. It heard arguments on the case on February 8 and ruled less than a month later—which is breakneck speed when it comes to the Supreme Court. Up until now, it had never weighed in on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Colorado was only the first state to try to kick Trump off the ballot. Maine’s communist/globalist Secretary of State also concluded that Trump was ineligible to appear on the ballot there, as did a judge reviewing the matter for the Illinois board of elections.
Many pundits and legal experts had emphasized that the state-level efforts to prevent Trump from running for office—again under the 14th Amendment—were unlikely to succeed, particularly since the conservative-majority Supreme Court would ultimately get the final word. Analysis of how the February 8 hearing went indicated the same.
The following from notthebee.com.
“Capitol attack” 😂
The justices ruled a day before the Super Tuesday primaries that states, without action from Congress first, cannot invoke a post-Civil War constitutional provision to keep presidential candidates from appearing on ballots.
The outcome ends efforts in Colorado, Illinois, Maine, and elsewhere to kick Trump, the front-runner for his party’s nomination, off the ballot because of his [alleged] attempts to undo the [stolen] 2020 election, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, [protest at] the Capitol.
Trump Responds:
Further enjoyment:
Final thought: There is much to be said for a Conservative Supreme Court.
God speed to Conservatism and to the Take Back of our Constitutional Republic.
And God speed to President Trump. May God keep him safe and vigorous.
