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Former President Trump has filed a request that the Supreme Court overrule the Colorado Supreme Court and put his name back on the ballot. Just over two weeks ago, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s name would be removed from the ballot on the grounds that he had violated the 14th Amendment. Trump’s attorneys said the day it was announced that they would be appealing and now they have.
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a state court ruling in Colorado that said he is ineligible to appear on the state primary ballot because of his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Colorado Republican Party had already filed its own appeal. Based on language in the state court ruling, Trump for now remains on the Colorado ballot until the Supreme Court acts.
The Colorado Supreme Court based its Dec. 19 ruling on language in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment that prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection” from running for various federal offices. The case raises various novel legal questions, including whether the language applies to those running for president and who gets to decide whether someone engaged in insurrection.
I’m going to quote from the filing (posted in full by the ) at some length because this is the argument that Trump’s attorneys are making on his behalf. Here’s how it opens:
It is a “ ‘fundamental principle of our representative democracy,’ embodied in the Constitution, that ‘the people should choose whom they please to govern them.’ ” U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779, 783 (1995) (quoting Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486, 547 (1969)). Petitioner President Donald J. Trump (“President Trump”) is the leading candidate for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States.
