Trump Is Disqualified From the 2024 Ballot, Colorado Supreme Court Rules It’s the first court to find that the disqualification clause of the 14th Amendment applies to Mr. Trump, in addition to affirming that he engaged in insurrection. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/us/politics/trump-colorado-ballot-14th-amendment.html Former President Donald J. Trump is ineligible to hold office again, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, accepting the argument that the 14th Amendment disqualifies him in an explosive decision that could upend the 2024 election. In a lengthy ruling ordering the Colorado secretary of state to exclude Mr. Trump from the state’s Republican primary ballot, the justices reversed a Denver district judge’s finding last month that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — which disqualifies people who have engaged in insurrection against the Constitution after having taken an oath to support it from holding office — did not apply to the presidency. They affirmed the district judge’s other key conclusions: that Mr. Trump’s actions before and on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted engaging in insurrection, and that courts had the authority to enforce Section 3 against a person whom Congress had not specifically designated.
Read the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling that removes Trump from 2024 ballot https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-n...t-12-19-23/h_852c7b7ac92f2f01f6bf1e43a08b350e 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.” The ruling was 4-3 and will be placed on hold pending appeal until January 4. (PDF of ruling at url above)
Colorado Supreme Court had "little difficulty" finding that January 6 constituted an insurrection https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/colorado-trump-14th-amendment-12-19-23/index.html The Colorado Supreme Court had “little difficulty” in determining that the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol was an insurrection. The court, in its ruling, found there was “substantial evidence” that Trump laid the groundwork to claim the 2020 election was rigged in President Joe Biden’s favor even before the election and worked to pressure Republican officials in various states to overturn the results. The court also found that Trump’s messages in the lead-up to the January 6 rally at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, “were a call to his supporters to fight and that his supporters responded to that call.” The former president, the court found, also put a “significant target on Vice President (Mike) Pence’s back” when he tweeted on January 6 that Pence needed to send electoral votes back to the states. On January 6, the court notes, Trump also called for the crowd at the Ellipse to march to the Capitol, and the crowd “unsurprisingly … reacted to President Trump’s words with calls for violence.” “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,” the court found. “Moreover, the evidence amply showed that President Trump undertook all these actions to aid and further a common unlawful purpose that he himself conceived and set in motion: prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election and stop the peaceful transfer of power," it added.
As expected -- Trump is going to an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Isn't who a state decides to disqualify from their ballots a decision for the state to decide. As long as the state doesn't disqualify a candidate on the basis of race, gender, etc. (protected status) then this is not really a case that the U.S. Supreme Court should be involved in. Trump campaign says it will "swiftly file an appeal" to the US Supreme Court following Colorado ruling https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-n...t-12-19-23/h_e5f8ef78f3761651966434a371a3a62e The Trump campaign said it would “swiftly file an appeal” following the Colorado Supreme Court decision. “The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely flawed decision tonight and we will swiftly file an appeal to the United States Supreme Court and a concurrent request for a stay of this deeply undemocratic decision. 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,” campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
That's the problem. There is a concurrent federal criminal case pending on that very issue, and it is going to require a lot of evidence in the face of a sturdy defense by Trump to reach such a finding. Where is the extensive fact finding with evidence and witnesses in the Colorado case, and the participation of a defense team? This will probably be struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. This clause in the 14th Amendment was targeting former Union military officers who fought for the Confederacy.
"Justice Thomas will get to weigh in on whether Trump engaged in insurrection for the same plot his own wife helped organize. Extraordinary."
Uncle Clarence has already showed his hand... his fee will be YUGE. Clarence Thomas hinted to GOP lawmaker he could resign unless Congress raised his pay