The U.S. Supreme Court overruled a Colorado court’s decision barring Donald Trump from appearing on the 2024 presidential ballot in an unsigned and unanimous decision on Monday.
The case revolved around a clause in the 14th Amendment stating that anyone who took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution but then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it is ineligible to hold state or federal office. The Colorado Supreme Court had ruled Dec. 19 that Trump’s actions in support of the Jan. 6 insurrection disqualified him from the ballot.
The Supreme Court disagreed, arguing that states do not have the ability under the 14th Amendment to disqualify candidates for federal office.
“We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office,” the decision states. “But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency.”
The court’s decision ensures that Trump will remain on the ballot in Colorado, and Maine and Illinois, where judges and election officials similarly ruled him ineligible under the 14th Amendment. The decision came the day before Colorado’s Republican presidential primary election, which the state’s top court had ordered Trump disqualified from.
“While the Supreme Court allowed Donald Trump back on the ballot on technical legal grounds, this was in no way a win for Trump,” Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the liberal legal group that led the Colorado lawsuit, said in a statement. “The Supreme Court had the opportunity in this case to exonerate Trump, and they chose not to do so.”
Trump, on the other hand, called the decision a “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!”
The case came before the court after a group of Colorado voters challenged Trump’s eligibility under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment in state court. This challenge followed a series of lawsuits brought by CREW…
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