After a month-long debate on whether former US President Donald Trump violated the “insurrectionist clause” included in the 14th Amendment, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that he should appear on Colorado ballots, CNN reported.
The opinion is a huge victory for Trump over one of the many legal threats that have plagued the Republican front-runner’s campaign. While the decision does not affect Trump’s four ongoing criminal cases, the court is unanimous that he cannot be unilaterally removed from the ballot.
However, the justices split on how broadly the decision would apply. A five-justice majority stated that no state could exclude a federal candidate from any ballot, but four justices argued that the court should have limited its opinion.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh wrote that states could not exclude any federal official, especially the president, from the ballot without Congress first passing a law.
“We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency. Nothing in the Constitution delegates to the States any power to enforce Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates.”
Only three states removed Trump from the ballot due to the “insurrectionist ban.” In addition to Colorado, a top election official in Maine came to a similar conclusion and decided that Trump was constitutionally barred from holding office. Trump appealed, and the state court put the proceedings on hold while the Supreme Court heard the Colorado case.
The Illinois judge also removed Trump from the ballot in that state on the same January 6 grounds, although enforcement of that ruling was suspended pending appeals.
The question that you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States. Why should a single state have the ability to make this determination not only for their own citizens but for the rest of the nation?
