- cross-posted to:
- antitrumpalliance@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- antitrumpalliance@lemmy.world
The Colorado Supreme Court is removing former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot, saying he is ineligible to be president.
In a stunning and unprecedented decision, the Colorado Supreme Court removed former President Donald Trump from the stateās 2024 ballot, ruling that he isnāt an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendmentās āinsurrectionist ban.ā
āEven when the siege on the Capitol was fully underway, he continued to support it by repeatedly demanding that Vice President (Mike) Pence refuse to perform his constitutional duty and by calling Senators to persuade them to stop the counting of electoral votes.
āPresident Trumpās 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.ā
Ratified after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment says officials who take an oath to support the Constitution are banned from future office if they āengaged in insurrection.ā But the wording is vague, it doesnāt explicitly mention the presidency, and has only been applied twice since 1919.
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,ā Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Chief Justice Brian Boatright, one of the three dissenters on the seven-member court, wrote that he believes Colorado election law āwas not enacted to decide whether a candidate engaged in insurrection,ā and said he would have dismissed the challenge to Trumpās eligibility.
LINKS
AP: Colorado Supreme Court bans Trump from the stateās ballot under Constitutionās insurrection clause | @negativenull@startrek.website
Washington Post: Donald Trump is barred from Coloradoās 2024 primary ballot, the state Supreme Court rules | @silence7@slrpnk.net
CNBC: Colorado Supreme Court disqualifies Trump from 2024 ballot, pauses ruling to allow appeal | @return2ozma
NBC News: Colorado Supreme Court kicks Donald Trump off the stateās 2024 ballot for violating the U.S. Constitution. | 18-24-61-B-17-17-4
CNN: Colorado Supreme Court removes Trump from 2024 ballot | A Phlaming Phoenix
CNN:Colorado Supreme Court removes Trump from 2024 ballot based on 14th Amendmentās āinsurrectionist banā | @Boddhisatva
New York Times: Trump Is Disqualified From the 2024 Ballot, Colorado Supreme Court Rules | @silence7@slrpnk.net
Courts have to act for this sort of thing to happen. Itās necessarily an open legal question until ruled because otherwise people could just unilaterally make unreasonable powerful moves.
To go further, I hate to say it but I agree with the dissenting opinion that it is premature to do this without a conviction to reference. It may be obvious to all, but in that case it should be easy to have a conviction in hand under due process. For a court to skip requiring a criminal conviction before imposing criminal penalties seems unreasonable.
Plus, from a practical perspective, this is probably the worst jurisdiction to die on this hill. In the general election, Trump wouldnāt win this state anyway, so it serves to rationalize the persecution complex and bolster support to keep him out of a race that wonāt matter (CO wonāt device the primary, and it will be D in the general election either way).