Supreme Court Assist for Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 US elections. The Court was skeptical that Colorado has the authority to remove Trump from the Republican primary ballot because of his role in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which culminated in the storming of Congress.
In the two-hour hearing, in which Trump's and Colorado's lawyers presented their arguments, the majority of judges, including liberal ones, asked questions and objections which showed that they are not convinced that a state can determine whether a candidate may be banned from running under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits public officials who have “participated in an insurrection” from running for office.
The doubt was clearly expressed by Elena Kagan, one of the Court's three liberal justices who had also been critical of Trump's defense arguments. “I think the question we need to ask ourselves is why a single state should decide who can become president of the United States – said the judge appointed by Barack Obama – in other words, the question of whether a former president is disqualified for insurrection from the possibility of being president again seems like a terribly national thing to me.”
According to CNN analysts, there are therefore signs that within the Court – where there is a clear majority of conservatives, 6 to 3, with three judges appointed by Trump – consensus can be built around “a way out” which would allow them to avoid deciding whether or not Trump is an insurrectionist, thus freeing themselves from one of the most political appeals ever to come to the Court's attention.
Chief Justice Justice John Roberts made it clear that if the Colorado decision were to be upheld, then other states may exclude other candidates from their ballots. “We would end up having a handful of states deciding the presidential elections,” she said, “and this is a fairly worrying consequence.”
Roberts himself pointed out that the “whole purpose” of Section 3, passed in 1868, was to bar former Confederate officials from holding public office, questioning why this should give states the ability to exclude presidential candidates. A similar approach was expressed by Brett Kavanaugh – one of the judges appointed by Trump – who showed himself inclined to support the interpretation of the former president's defense according to which only Congress can decide on the disqualification of a candidate.
“Even if a candidate admits to being an insurrectionist, section 3 still allows him to participate in the elections and even win them, then we will see if Congress disqualifies him after the elections.” In fact, this is how Donald Trump's lawyer, Jonathan Mitchell, responded to a hypothetical question from Roberts, reiterating his belief that only Congress, and not the states, can establish the ineligibility of a candidate.
The Supreme Court accepted and discussed Trump's appeal against the Colorado decision more quickly and a ruling is expected in the near future, since the primaries in Colorado are set for March 5, Super Tuesday.
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