During a hearing this Thursday (8), judges from the Supreme Court of the United States indicated that they must accept an appeal by former president Donald Trump (2017-2021), who challenged a decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that made him ineligible for the presidential election primaries in the American state in 2024.
According to information from CNN and the Reuters agency, the president of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, said that Colorado's decision is “in conflict” with the 14th Amendment of the American Constitution, which prohibits those who participated in rebellions and insurrections from holding elected office.
Trump is a defendant in a federal lawsuit on charges that he instigated the invasion of the Capitol in January 2021.
“The purpose of the 14th Amendment was to restrict the power of the state,” Roberts said Thursday. “On the other hand, federal power increased.”
The judge also expressed concern about the ripple effect in other states if Colorado's decision is upheld. “It will only be up to a handful of states to decide the presidential elections. That’s a pretty scary consequence,” Roberts said.
Another justice, Elena Kagan, said that “the question we have to face is why a single state should decide who will be president of the United States.”
“This question of whether a former president is disqualified due to an insurrection from being president again […] It seems terribly national to me,” he said.
Addressing Jason Murray, attorney for the Colorado voters who brought the case against Trump, Judge Brett Kavanaugh spoke about the impacts of the decision.
“Think about the right of the people to elect candidates of their choice, to let the people decide, because their position has the effect of disenfranchising voters to a significant degree,” Kavanaugh said.
In response, Murray said that “the reason we are here is that President Trump tried to deprive [de escolher um presidente] 80 million Americans who voted against him”, alleging alleged attempts by the Republican to reverse his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
The Colorado Supreme Court's decision, announced in December, initially applies only to the state's Republican Party primaries, scheduled for March 5, when Trump's name could not appear in the candidate options. However, if maintained, the measure would probably also apply to the general election in the state, in November.
The Maine government made the same decision days later. The two measures are on hold due to the ruling on Trump's appeal at the US Supreme Court. It has not yet been defined when the last instance of the American Judiciary will announce its decision.
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