Trump takes Colorado ballot disqualification to US Supreme Court

DISQUALIFICATION CLAUSE

The Colorado Supreme Court ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Republican and unaffiliated voters, and backed by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, seeking to bar Trump from the nominating primary and future elections under the disqualification clause.

Section 3 bars from holding office any “officer of the United States” who took an oath “to support the Constitution of the United States” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”.

The amendment was ratified in the aftermath of the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865 in which 11 southern states seceded from the union.

The 4 to 3 Colorado Supreme Court ruling reversed a lower court judge’s conclusion that Trump engaged in insurrection by inciting his supporters to violence, but as president, he was not an “officer of the United States” who could be disqualified under the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Colorado court concluded that Trump’s role in instigating violence at the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify the results of the 2020 election constituted engaging in insurrection, and that the presidency is covered by the insurrection provision.

“President Trump asks us to hold that Section Three disqualifies every oath-breaking 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. Both results are inconsistent with the plain language and history of Section Three,” the majority wrote.

Acknowledging the magnitude of the case, the majority said, “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.”

Trump’s lawyers argued that his speech to supporters on the day of the riot was protected by his right to free speech, adding that the constitutional amendment does not apply to US presidents and that Congress would need to vote to disqualify a candidate.

Courts have rejected several lawsuits seeking to keep Trump off the primary ballot in other states. Minnesota’s top court rebuffed an effort to disqualify Trump from the Republican primary in that state but did not rule on his overall eligibility to serve as president.