Trump’s future as a presidential candidate now rests in the hands of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has said whether it will hear the case Former President Donald Trump may or may not be on the ballot. For his role in efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss in the 2024 election, the Republican’s future as a candidate, and with him, possibly the entire presidential race, rests in the court’s hands.

The case, which brings the Supreme Court fully into the campaign, has particular urgency to resolve as the primary season begins in a few days. Arguments were scheduled for February 8.

For many years now The Supreme Court did not have such a central role in presidential elections. The last time he played such a central role was in 2000, when Republican George W. The election between Bush and Democrat Al Gore was decided by a court decision.

For the first time in history, The Supreme Court will review Article 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitutionwhich prohibits those who took part in the coup against the constitution from holding public office.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, Says: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or an Elector (of the Electoral College) for President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, in the United States or in any State, to which he has previously been sworn.” were (…) if he had supported the Constitution, he would have revolted or rebelled against it, or given aid or comfort to his enemies. But Congress, by two-thirds of each house, said remove the obstruction.”

Because the text is specific to positions that a rebel cannot hold, but does not mention the office of president, the debate is whether the amendment extends to a presidential candidate.

The amendment was added after the Civil War between the North and South to prevent former Confederates from taking power. According to constitutional experts, it has been used very rarely and never before for a presidential candidate. For this reason, it is the first time that the Supreme Court will have a case in its hands to see the scope of such an amendment.

In many states they are suing to remove Trump’s name from the 2024 ballot with the same argument.

But the specific case that reached the Supreme Court has moved forward in Colorado. There, the majority The Colorado Supreme Court ruled, 4 to 3, in December that Trump should not be on the Republican primary ballot. The decision was the first time that part of the Constitution was used to exclude a presidential candidate from the ballot.

Trump is appealing a separate, Maine case in state court that also seeks to exclude him from the ballot. Both the Colorado and Maine Supreme Court rulings are on hold pending appeals.

Three of the Supreme Court’s nine justices, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Cavanaugh, were appointed by Trump..

However, they have repeatedly ruled against him in lawsuits related to the 2020 election, as well as attacks on the Capitol and his efforts to prevent his tax returns from being turned over to congressional committees.

In the Colorado Supreme Court ruling, Gorsuch himself cites a ruling when he was a federal judge in that state in which he upheld the state’s decision to remove a naturalized citizen from the presidential ballot because he was born in Guyana and did not meet constitutional requirements. Run for office. The court found that Trump is also ineligible for his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

He The court can uphold the Colorado ruling, overturn it, or set aside the debate on a technicality. Some courts have avoided ruling on central issues (whether Article 3 applies to presidents or whether Trump is treasonous).

It is difficult to predict what will happen as it is an unknown legal terrain. The legal chain effect would also be unprecedented as other states are in similar legal battles over the interpretation of the 14th Amendment and whether or not to leave Trump’s name on the ballot with it.

Lawyers for the former president appealed the Colorado ruling, saying it would unconstitutionally disenfranchise “millions of voters in Colorado” and would likely “be used as a template to disenfranchise millions of voters across the country.”

Trump’s defense further states that what happened on January 6, 2021 was not a coup and if it was, Trump did not participate in it. Furthermore, they maintain that the Sedition Clause does not apply to the President and that Congress, not the states, should act.

That year, in a very close election between Bush and Gore, the Supreme Court ordered a manual recount of votes conducted in Florida not to continue due to discrepancies in previous counts.

By suspending that process, With Bush winning, the election ended with Gore deciding to concede. And don’t give more legal battle.

Thus, the certificate of results issued by Florida Secretary of State, Republican Kathryn Harris, was accepted without waiting for the vote counting process to be completed.

A victory in Florida gave Bush the electoral votes he needed to win the presidency.

But while in 2000 it was the Bush campaign that appealed to the Supreme Court to block the recount order that the Florida Supreme Court ordered, now, in the Trump case in Colorado, Both parties requested the decision of the Supreme Court. Clarence Thomas has been the sole justice of the Supreme Court since 2000.

A shorter deadline could allow the court to issue a decision before Super Tuesday on March 5, when Colorado also has the largest number of delegates at stake in a single day.