March 4, 2024
This decision will restore Trump on the presidential ballots in Maine, Colorado, and Illinois.
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that according to the powers enumerated in the United States Constitution, states cannot individually bar candidates from federal ballots.
As the Huffington Post reports, the ruling overturns decisions rendered by a handful of state Supreme Courts, restoring Trump to the presidential ballots in Maine, Colorado, and Illinois. Those courts ruled that Trump was in violation of the 14th Amendment, but according to the Supreme Court, “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.”
However, the Supreme Court was split on a separate argument regarding the specifics of the enforcement of Section 3, or the clause referring to insurrection. In a concurring decision from the three liberal judges on the court, Sonia Sotomayer, Ketanaji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan, the trio questioned whether Section 3 should be limited to federal legislation.
“Today, the majority goes beyond the necessities of this case to limit how Section 3 can bar an oathbreaking insurrectionist from becoming President,” the trio wrote. “Although we agree that Colorado cannot enforce Section 3, we protest the majority’s effort to use this case to define the limits of federal enforcement of that provision.”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett also agreed with the liberal justices, writing in a separate concurring decision that the case “does not require us to address the complicated question whether federal legislation is the exclusive vehicle through which Section 3 can be enforced.”
The court, notably, did not issue a ruling on if Trump committed an insurrection or not, which Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the group that brought the Colorado lawsuit, counted as a win in a statement.
“While the Supreme Court allowed Donald Trump back on the ballot on technical legal grounds, this was in no way a win for Trump,” Bookbinder said. “The Supreme Court had the opportunity in this case to exonerate Trump, and they chose not to do so.”
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