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 state’s 2024 ballot, ruling that he isn’t an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”

“Even 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.

“President Trump’s 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.”

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 “engaged in insurrection.” But the wording is vague, it doesn’t 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,” 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 “was not enacted to decide whether a candidate engaged in insurrection,” and said he would have dismissed the challenge to Trump’s eligibility.

LINKS

AP: Colorado Supreme Court bans Trump from the state’s ballot under Constitution’s insurrection clause | @negativenull@startrek.website

Washington Post: Donald Trump is barred from Colorado’s 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 state’s 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 Amendment’s ‘insurrectionist ban’ | @Boddhisatva

New York Times: Trump Is Disqualified From the 2024 Ballot, Colorado Supreme Court Rules | @silence7@slrpnk.net

  • BZ 🇨🇦
    5·
    11 months ago

    Here we go! I guess the SCOTUS is having their hand forced?

    • derphurr@lemmy.world
      719·
      11 months ago

      They don’t need to, it’s very simple… 14th amendment explicitly does not name the president. Unless SCOTUS decides he is an “officer of the United States”.

      Trump has not been proven that he:

      shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

      He tried to plot with people, but no one went through with screwing with the counting of votes. You could try to argue the J6 riots were an armed insurrection, but SCOTUS won’t put Trump as involved.

      • Telorand@reddthat.com
        29·
        11 months ago

        The previous judge literally ruled that she found that he engaged in insurrection. She was just too afraid to actually cast him off the ballot, because Trump is a mob boss who commands millions of unhinged conspiracy theorists and war-LARPers.

        So he was indeed proven to have engaged in insurrection.

        • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
          10·
          11 months ago

          No, she ruled that, as a fact, Trump engaged in insurrection. The next court of appeals had to take that statement as fact, they could not dismiss it, nor argue it again. Legally, he factually engaged in insurrection. Trapped.

          Far from being cowardly, she fucked him over, hard. And here we see the results! Brilliant legal maneuvering.

      • YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        13·
        11 months ago

        or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

        That’s the part Trump is guilty of; the evidence is he aided them.

      • badaboomxx@lemmy.world
        3·
        11 months ago

        At this point its like saying potato or potatoe, is stupid to use the argument that he is not in name on the amendment, because he was in office, held a position in the government. It is completely childish to say that it doesn’t extend to the president when it says about any person who helped to commit treason.