- The U.S. Supreme Court decided that, due to his activities following the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, former President Donald Trump cannot be kept off the ballot for Colorado’s primary election. Just one day before Colorado voters cast their ballots for Super Tuesday, a unanimous decision was made. The insurrection clause, which was introduced in the aftermath of the Civil War to exclude former Confederates from running for office in Congress or other government positions, has never before been the subject of a Supreme Court decision.
- Though they agreed with the ruling, the liberal justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson disapproved of the conservative majority’s justification, arguing that it was unnecessary and overly expansive. According to what they said, the majority declared that only when specific legislation is passed by Congress in accordance with Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment may an insurrection be declared invalid. This closes the door on other federal enforcement options.
- The much-awaited decision clarifies who will be on the ballot for voters in Illinois and Maine as well as those in Colorado on the eve of Super Tuesday, when those voters also filed petitions requesting that Trump be removed from the ballot in those states due to the insurrection clause.
- Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, the so-called “insurrection clause” of the U.S. Constitution, is at the heart of the Trump v. Anderson case. It forbids government employees who have taken an oath to defend the Constitution from holding office if they participate in rebellion. Voters in Colorado said that since Trump participated in an uprising on January 6, he ought to be removed from office under Section 3. But in none of the four criminal instances in which Trump has been charged, he has been charged with “insurrection” expressly.
Source:
Yahoo News
