(CTN News) – Donald Trump’s eligibility to run for president this year will be decided by the US supreme court on Thursday morning.
Last year, six Colorado voters sued, claiming Trump was ineligible under a little-used 14th amendment provision. Insurrectionists who take the oath to defend the constitution are barred from office. There’s only a two-thirds vote needed for Congress to override the ban.
Trump’s behavior during the January 6 Capitol attack disqualified him from running for office last year. After a five-day trial, Trump was found guilty of insurrection, but wasn’t an “officer of the United States.” 4-3, the Colorado supreme court reversed it. Case to be heard by supreme court in January.
While several lawsuits have been filed to remove Trump from the ballot, only Colorado and Maine have done it. In Maine, a judge last month said the secretary of state shouldn’t exclude Trump until the supreme court rules.
In the event the Colorado supreme court upholds its ruling, Trump will remain on the ballot. Even if Trump is disqualified from the primary ballot, it is unlikely he will be on the general election ballot.
In the court, conservatives have a 6-3 supermajority, and Trump nominated three of the justices. There’s still a lot of uncertainty over what the court will do since it hasn’t limited the scope of arguments and the issues are so new.
It will result in chaos and bedlam in the US if Trump is blocked from the ballot. He did not engage in insurrection, so the term “officer” does not apply to the president.
As part of our system of ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people,’ the American people should elect the next President,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “
Colorado voters, backed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), think it’s absurd to claim the 14th amendment doesn’t apply to the presidency, and it’s a danger to democracy if he gets back in office.
“Section 3 ensures such insurrectionists can’t unleash such mayhem again,” they write. Ex-presidents are not above the law.
This case has no precedent – the justices will have to decide whether Trump committed insurrection on January 6 for the first time. Despite being enacted after the civil war, the 14th amendment has never been used to bar a presidential candidate. First time in a century, the amendment was used to remove a New Mexico county commissioner from office.
Since Bush v Gore in 2000, this is the Supreme Court most direct intervention in a presidential election. Since the court’s reputation is apolitical, it’s usually reluctant to get involved in heated political disputes, but the Trump case makes intervention in the most controversial case unavoidable.
As a result of a string of ethics scandals and political decisions, public confidence in the court continues to decline.
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