Trump Disqualified from Colorado’s 2024 Ballot

In what one can only hope will be a series of such decisions, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump is disqualified from being on Colorado's 2024 ballot due to his participation - I would even argue in planning  and being the  mastermind  of the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Trump will no doubt seek to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court which, if the "conservatives" on the Court are true to the plain meaning and language of the 1868 language of the 14th Amendment barring insurrectionist from holding political office, should either affirm the Colorado ruling or decline to take the case and leave the ruling intact.  The ruling underscores the need for such cases to be pursued in other states and hopefully result enough rulings against Trump that he would be unable to carry a majority of the Electoral College.  The Colorado Supreme Court stated that “We conclude that the foregoing evidence, the great bulk of which was undisputed at trial, established that President Trump engaged in insurrection,” . . . . . The ruling no doubt potentially changes the calculus for Trump and his shameless (and in my view, unethical attorneys) and in a sane Republican Party would be a death knell for Trump's candidacy for the Republican Party nomination.  Here are highlights from the Washington Post on the Colorado ruling:

In a historic decision Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court barred Donald Trump from running in the state’s presidential primary after determining that he had engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

The 4-3 ruling marked the first time a court has kept a presidential candidate off the ballot under an 1868 provision of the Constitution that prevents insurrectionists from holding office. The ruling comes as courts consider similar cases in other states.

If other states reach the same conclusion, Trump would have a difficult — if not impossible — time securing the Republican nomination and winning in November.

The decision is certain to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it will be up to the justices to decide whether to take the case. Scholars have said only the nation’s high court can settle for all states whether the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol constituted an insurrection and whether Trump is banned from running.

“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the decision reads. “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”

The U.S. Supreme Court justices separately are weighing a request from special counsel Jack Smith to expedite consideration of Trump’s immunity claim in one of his criminal cases — his federal indictment in Washington on charges of illegally trying to obstruct President Biden’s 2020 election victory.

The Colorado Supreme Court’s majority determined the trial judge was allowed to consider Congress’s investigation of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which helped determine that Trump engaged in insurrection.

“We conclude that the foregoing evidence, the great bulk of which was undisputed at trial, established that President Trump engaged in insurrection,” the majority wrote.

In its decision, the Colorado Supreme Court said it was staying the decision until Jan. 4 and would keep that stay in place if an appeal is filed to the U.S. Supreme Court. That means Trump’s name could be placed on the ballot while the case is ongoing. Colorado is one of more than a dozen states scheduled to hold primaries on March 5, also known as Super Tuesday.

Derek Muller, a University of Notre Dame law professor who has studied the cases challenging Trump’s candidacy, called the Colorado decision unlike any other in history.

“No candidate’s ever been kept off the ballot for engaging in an insurrection, much less a presidential candidate, much less a former president,” he said. “So it’s just extraordinary.”

The decision puts intense pressure on the U.S. Supreme Court to act. A broad ruling by the high court would resolve the issue for all states.

In the short term, the Colorado ruling could influence courts and election officials in other states, he said. Other states have not taken such a step so far but may be willing to do so now that Colorado has acted, he said.

Section 3 of the [14^th] amendment barred people from office if they swore an oath to the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection. The measure was meant to keep former Confederates from returning to power.

Six Republican and independent voters from Colorado invoked the provision in a lawsuit this fall meant to keep Trump off the ballot.

“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the majority wrote. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”

Section 3 bars those who engage in insurrection from holding office and does not mention who can run for office. The majority rejected the idea that that meant the state could not keep candidates off the ballot who did not meet qualifications for serving as president, such as being at least 35 years old and being a U.S. citizen.