Conventional wisdom regarding the Supreme Court’s decision Monday allowing Donald Trump to remain on the Colorado state primary ballot is that this is a big victory for the former president. And the decision does allow Trump’s presidential campaign to continue. But we’d argue that this perspective misses a key part of the ruling — and one that is far less positive for the GOP front-runner.
We’d argue that this perspective misses a key part of the ruling — and one that is far less positive for the GOP front-runner.
The Supreme Court had every opportunity to exonerate Trump for his actions during the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and it did not. The justices did not substantively take issue at all with the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision that Trump engaged in insurrection for the purposes of the 14th Amendment. We believe he is still constitutionally disqualified from holding office under Section 3 of the amendment. What the court did do is remove one of the enforcement mechanisms.
The court’s opinion overturning the Colorado high court’s decision hinged on a technical point of law. It determined that states cannot enforce disqualification under the 14th Amendment for federal officeholders absent congressional legislation authorizing them to do so. “Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse,” concluded the justices in their unsigned “per curiam” opinion.
Our organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and a remarkable bipartisan team of attorneys represented the six Republican and unaffiliated voters who brought the suit. We think the court’s decision on states’ ability to enforce the Constitution is clearly wrong on the text and the history. But, particularly since the whole purpose of this litigation was to vindicate this country’s continuing status as a nation of laws, we will of course…
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