Donald Trump Banned from Colorado Ballot Over Insurrection

(iexclusivenews) – The Colorado Supreme Court In a historic and controversial decision, ruled on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump is barred from seeking the presidency again under a constitutional provision that prevents those who participated in an insurrection from holding office.

The ruling, which was split 4-3 along partisan lines, removed Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot and could spark a legal battle in the U.S. Supreme Court, where Trump’s fate as a presidential candidate may ultimately be decided.

The first use of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to disqualify a presidential candidate.

The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision is the first of its kind in U.S. history, as it invoked Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which was enacted after the Civil War to prevent former rebels from returning to power.

The provision states that anyone who has taken an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it, or given aid or comfort to its enemies, is disqualified from holding any federal or state office.

The court’s majority, composed of four justices appointed by Democratic governors, held that Trump violated Section 3 by inciting the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which aimed to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The court rejected the argument of a lower court judge, who found that Trump was guilty of insurrection but not disqualified from the ballot, because Section 3 was unclear about whether it applied to the presidency.

The court issued a stay on its ruling until Jan. 4, or until the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes. The state officials said they need a final resolution by Jan. 5, the deadline for printing the presidential primary ballots.

The court’s majority acknowledged the gravity and significance of their ruling, and said they were bound by their duty to uphold the law, regardless of public opinion or political pressure.

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Donald Trump’s reaction and legal strategy

Trump’s lawyers vowed to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has the ultimate authority to interpret the Constitution.

Donald Trump’s legal spokesperson Alina Habba denounced the ruling as an attack on the nation’s democracy and expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would overturn it.

Trump did not address the ruling during a rally in Waterloo, Iowa, on Tuesday night, but his campaign used it as a fundraising opportunity, calling it a “tyrannical ruling.”

The Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called the ruling “Election interference” and said the RNC’s legal team would support Trump’s appeal.

Donald Trump does not need Colorado to win the 2024 presidential election, as he lost the state by 13 points in 2020. However, the ruling poses a serious threat to his candidacy, as it could inspire more courts and election officials to follow suit and exclude him from other crucial states.

The nationwide legal challenge to Trump’s eligibility under Section 3

Colorado is not the only state where Trump’s eligibility to run for president has been challenged under Section 3. Across the country, dozens of lawsuits have been filed to invoke the provision, which has rarely been used since the Reconstruction era.

The lawsuits argue that Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection disqualifies him from holding office under the Constitution.

The Colorado case is the first one where the plaintiffs prevailed. In November, District Judge Sarah B. Wallace held a weeklong hearing and concluded that Donald Trump had “engaged in insurrection” by inciting the Capitol riot.

However, she ruled that he could not be removed from the ballot, because Section 3 was ambiguous about whether it covered the presidency.

Trump’s lawyers persuaded Wallace that Section 3 was meant to apply to former Confederate officials, not to the president. They also argued that removing Donald Trump from the ballot would violate his First Amendment rights and the rights of his supporters.

Derek Muller, a Notre Dame law professor who has been following the Section 3 cases closely, said that the Colorado ruling could have a ripple effect on other states, as it broke the ice on using the provision to disqualify a presidential candidate.

“This is a major threat to Trump’s candidacy,” Muller said.

Source: AP

Meta description: The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump is disqualified from running for president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars those who engaged in insurrection from holding office. The ruling could trigger a legal battle in the U.S. Supreme Court.