Trump asks US Supreme Court to overturn Colorado ruling barring him from ballot over Jan. 6 attack

DENVER — Donald Trump, the previous US President, issued a plea to the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to reverse a decision preventing him from appearing on Colorado's ballot. This has initiated a crucial face-off about the constitutional clause against those involved in "insurrection", which could possibly terminate Trump's political career. Trump is appealing a December verdict ruled 4-3 by the Supreme Court of Colorado. This is the first instance in which Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is used to bar a presidential contestant from a ballot as a result of Trump's involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol. This provision has been scarcely exercised in the history of America and therefore, the US Supreme Court has not passed judgment on it.

The elevation of this matter occurred the day following Trump's legal team's appeal against the resolution by Maine's Democratic Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, who ruled that Trump was unfit to appear on the Maine ballot due to his participation in the Capitol attack. While these appeals are in progress, the decrees by both the Supreme Court of Colorado and Maine's secretary of state remain suspended. Scores of lawsuits have been filed by critics of Trump in numerous states in efforts to disqualify him. Though he lost Colorado by 13 percentage points in the 2020 election, Trump doesn't need to win this state to secure the Republican presidential nomination or the presidency.

However, the ruling in Colorado has the potential to pressurize court of secretaries of state to exclude him from the ballot in other states where a victory is essential. This ruling is the first to succeed against Trump and was done so by a small majority of Colorado's seven justices, all of whom had been appointed by Democratic governors. Trump's attorneys claim that this Supreme Court decision from Colorado would unfairly rob millions of voters in Colorado and across the nation of their right to vote, insinuating that Maine has already emulated Colorado's lead. Trump has also appealed his case to the US Supreme Court which comes after another appeal made by the Republican Party in Colorado.

Experts in law believe the US Supreme Court would accept the case due to the unresolved constitutional issues that are critical to the nation's governance. All parties involved in the case have prodded the court to hasten. Trump's legal representatives have asked the court to quash the ruling without needing verbal arguments. The Colorado plaintiffs' lawyers have pleaded for an expedited timeline as well but wish to have oral arguments in court and hope to resolve the issue by the following month.

The high court in Colorado upheld a district court verdict that deemed the Jan. 6 attack as an "insurrection" instigated by Trump. It sided with the petitioners, six Colorado residents, who belong to the Republican and unaffiliated groups. They received funding for their lawsuit from a liberal group in Washington. The court determined the clear violation of the provision by Trump was grounds for his elimination from the ballot, similar to failing the age eligibility for presidency. Consequently, the high court of the state overturned a lower court ruling which claimed it was uncertain if Section 3 was applicable to the President.

The Supreme Court will have to deliberate on a myriad of issues, including whether states like Colorado can decide who is subject to Section 3, needing congressional action to set up a process for barring individuals from the office, defining the Jan. 6 event as an insurrection within the legal framework and determining whether Trump's actions on the day were protected under the First Amendment or blameworthy for the violent onslaught, intended to overturn the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's win. Trump had organized a rally before the attack on the Capitol, where he incited his supporters to "fight like hell" or risk losing their country.

Six out of the nine justices of the US Supreme Court were chosen by Republicans, with three appointed by Trump himself. When making their decision, the justices of Colorado cited a ruling by Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, during his time as a federal judge in Colorado. The decision was about the state having a legitimate interest in eliminating an ineligible candidate from the presidential ballot.

Section 3 has hardly been used since the Civil War era where it was employed to prevent defeated Confederates from resuming their previous roles in government. The clause states that an individual who has sworn to "support" the Constitution and was subsequently involved in insurrection should not hold office unless Congress passes it by a two-thirds vote. Legal experts reveal that this clause was only used during the 20th century in 1919 by Congress to prevent a socialist who opposed the US's involvement in World War 1 from taking a seat in the House of Representatives after he was elected.

However, this clause was used in 2022 when a judge removed a county commissioner from rural New Mexico after his misdemeanor conviction for entering the US Capitol on Jan. 6. Liberal groups filed lawsuits to bar Republican Reps. Madison