The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that former President Donald Trump cannot appear on the state’s presidential primary ballot next year, citing the US Constitution’s insurrection clause. This is the first time Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate. The ruling is stayed until Jan. 4, or until the US Supreme Court makes a decision on the case, and Trump’s campaign is expected to appeal. The former president’s camp called the decision “completely flawed” and not surprising, noting that Colorado’s court is made up of Democratic-appointed justices.
The determination was reached after an earlier ruling by a lower court judge rejected the lawsuit. That judge found Trump incited an insurrection after refusing to accept the 2020 presidential election results, but he could not be disqualified because it was not clear if the provision was meant to cover the commander in chief. However, the court majority said it didn’t make sense that Section 3 stops “every oathbreaking insurrectionist except the most powerful one and that it bars oath-breakers from virtually every office, both state and federal, except the highest one in the land.”
One of the three dissenting judges on the state Supreme Court wrote Tuesday that questions surrounding the case were too complex to be determined at the state level, and the government can’t bar someone from holding office without due process.
Colorado’s lawsuit is one of dozens that have been filed across the country to keep Trump from appearing on the ballot again. The lefty group that brought the Colorado case on behalf of six GOP and unaffiliated voters, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, applauded the ruling.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the outcome and urged the US Supreme Court to reverse the decision while House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) slammed the four justices who ruled against Trump.
Trump lost Colorado’s general election by 13.5 points in 2020, and its Super Tuesday primary is on March 5.
The above is a summary of the New York Post article by David Propper
For the original article click here.
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