The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that former US President Donald is disqualified from holding public office. (photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP)
20 December 23
So it would seem that the Justices of the Colorado Supreme Court (CSC) contemplated in significant measure how their Trump 14th Amendment ruling would be processed by the SCOTUS and while the current permutation of the SCOTUS has taken great pains to demonstrate the omnipotence of their powers of discretion it should be noted that the CSC has left them with a rather thorny problem.
The original state court finding that Trump engaged in insurrection doesn’t go away easily. Nor for that matter does the language of the 14th Amendment’s Section 3, it’s black letter law.
SECTION 3 DISQUALIFICATION FROM HOLDING OFFICE
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
So the SCOTUS is left with little more than procedural grounds to overrule the CSC, ie timeliness, voter confusion etc. But that’s a stretch and potentially damaging to the court’s reputation.
It also bears noting that this court has shown little enthusiasm for carrying Donald Trump’s water. While he certainly shown no shame in inviting the court’s favor the court has appeared almost invariably reluctant to oblige.
In sum, the SCOTUS can overrule the CSC and may, but the potential for harm to the court is great and might prove to be only the beginning their Trump related problems.
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