Politics Random, Random

[dryrunguy]

The NY Times is reporting the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Trump is disqualified from the 2024 election ballot for engaging in insurrection.

It will be appealed and probably won't stick.

[ti-amie]

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.

By Maggie Astor
Dec. 19, 2023
Updated 6:37 p.m. ET

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.

“A majority of the court holds that President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” the court wrote in a 4-to-3 ruling. “Because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Colorado Secretary of State to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”

“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the majority wrote. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. 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.”

Mr. Trump will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, his campaign said in a statement.

Tuesday’s ruling applies only to Colorado, but if the Supreme Court were to affirm it, he could be disqualified more broadly. The Colorado Supreme Court stayed its ruling until Jan. 4, 2024, to allow time for Mr. Trump to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. If he does, the ruling could be stayed for longer while proceedings unfold.

The Colorado Supreme Court is the first court to find that the disqualification clause applies to Mr. Trump, an argument his opponents have been making across the country. Similar lawsuits in Minnesota and New Hampshire were dismissed on procedural grounds. A judge in Michigan ruled last month that the issue was political and not for him to decide, and an appeals court affirmed the decision not to disqualify him. The plaintiffs there have appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court.

Tuesday’s ruling “is not only historic and justified, but is necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country,” Noah Bookbinder, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said in a statement. His organization represented the voters seeking to disqualify Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump’s campaign denounced the ruling.

“Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice,” a campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, said. “We have full confidence that the U.S. Supreme Court will quickly rule in our favor and finally put an end to these un-American lawsuits.”

The case hinged on several questions: Was it an insurrection when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, trying to stop the certification of the 2020 election? If so, did Mr. Trump engage in that insurrection through his messages to his supporters beforehand, his speech that morning and his Twitter posts during the attack? Do courts have the authority to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment without congressional action? And does Section 3 apply to the presidency?

Judge Sarah B. Wallace, who made the district court ruling in Colorado, had said yes to all but the last question.

Because Section 3 enumerates several offices but not the presidency, and because the presidential oath is worded differently from the oaths of the enumerated offices, Judge Wallace concluded that the broad phrase “officers of the United States” was not intended to include the presidency. The Colorado Supreme Court disagreed.

“We do not place the same weight the district court did on the fact that the presidency is not specifically mentioned in Section Three,” the justices wrote. “It seems most likely that the presidency is not specifically included because it is so evidently an ‘office.’”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/us/p ... dment.html

[ti-amie]

Question: Does SCOTUS decline to take the case?

[dryrunguy]

Question: Does SCOTUS decline to take the case?

I don't think so. Trump owns a significant portion of the court.

[Suliso]

It's a political mistake. He'll be even more of a martyr now. Looks bleak for Biden to be honest.

[ashkor87]

I am not so sure it is a clever move by Trump to take it to the SCOTUS.. they may be his appointees but (with one possible exception) they are judges who know, and are committed to the Constitution.. they are not likely to simply rule the way he wants, they do have a conscience and a sense of professional integrity.. we shall see.

[ashkor87]

And I repeat my earlier prediction..Nikki Haley is going to be President...I always believed there would be a female President but it would be a Republican ...just think how formidable a credible/viable female Republican would be : many liberals would vote for her because she is a woman, conservatives because she is a Republican!
Again, my caveat .I am not taking sides, merely enjoying the race...

[ashkor87]

The SC could well rule that he has not actually been convicted of anything yet, these are all merely accusations, which is never enough?!

Though the judge in the Colorado court did say he was guilty but was that even the right court to rule?

[ti-amie]

California lieutenant governor calls for Donald Trump to be removed from ballot

Thursday, December 21, 2023 5:14AM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A historic ruling potentially pulling former President Donald Trump's name from the Colorado primary ballot could now have an impact on California elections.

On Wednesday, California's Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis called on the Secretary of State to look into legal options to remove Trump from the State's presidential primary.

She based it on the findings of the Colorado Supreme Court.

Those justices say former President Trump can't be on the ballot in the state because of his actions on January 6, 2021, citing the 14th Amendment's ban on insurrectionists holding public office.

Trump could still end up on the ballot in Colorado.

The ruling will be placed on hold until January 4, pending Trump's appeal to the Supreme Court.

https://abc7.com/president-donald-trump ... /14208249/

[Owendonovan]

He should be removed from society. Not sure anyone is a greater obvious threat to the USA than him.

[ponchi101]

And therefore, the world.
If he gets to be president again, more than one nation will be affected.

[ashkor87]

And therefore, the world.
If he gets to be president again, more than one nation will be affected.

that is true of anybody.. but I think the danger to the US is much more than to any other country.. Indeed, on the whole, I think Trump's foreign policy is better than most people's.. Clinton was a war-monger who would have set the Middle East ablaze (not that it isn't now!) - Trump did not commit the kinds of atrocities Bush and his gang did.. he did not kill millions and destroy entire countries..

[Suliso]

Inaction can lead to death of millions too. Look at Obama, had he intervened in Syria and supported Ukraine strongly in 2014 we would likely be in a much better situation now.

[ashkor87]

Inaction can lead to death of millions too. Look at Obama, had he intervened in Syria and supported Ukraine strongly in 2014 we would likely be in a much better situation now.

true but somehow it doesnt seem right to blame someone for inaction - there is plenty of that to go around..Myanmar, for instance..

[ponchi101]

I don't think anybody dislikes Bill Clinton as much as I do, but how was he a warmonger? His sole intervention was in the Balkans, and that seems pretty justified to me.
Please elaborate.