Donald Trump will try to persuade the US Supreme Court this week to reverse a judicial decision to kick him off the ballot in Colorado over his actions concerning the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, arguing that the constitutional provision his opponents cite does not apply to him as a former president. It may not be the only time Trump makes this type of assertion to the justices. As he fights four criminal cases and civil litigation in lower courts, Trump has repeatedly advanced a bold argument: that he is formally immune or otherwise not subject to these legal challenges. “Trump appears obsessed with trying to place himself above the law. The theme running throughout these claims is that he cannot be held liable at law for anything he has done,” said constitutional law expert Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor. “No president or former president has made such outlandish, self-serving claims. Continue
In the filing, Trump’s lawyers asked the justices to “summarily reverse” the Colorado Supreme Court decision because the question of presidential eligibility is reserved for Congress.
The state court’s decision marks “the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate,” the lawyers said, adding that the ruling “is not and cannot be correct. The January 6 attack was an attempt by Trump’s supporters to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden, which Trump falsely claims was the result of fraud. The Colorado court’s historic ruling marked the first time in history that Section 3 of the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment – the so-called disqualification clause – had been used to deem a presidential candidate ineligible for the White House. Trump has also appealed to a Maine state court a decision by that state’s top election official barring him from the primary ballot under the same constitutional provision at issue in the Colorado case.
Disqualification clause
The Colorado Supreme Court ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Republican and unaffiliated voters, and backed by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, seeking to bar Trump from the nominating primary and future elections under the disqualification clause. Section 3 bars from holding office any “officer of the United States” who took an oath “to support the Constitution of the United States” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.
Trump appears obsessed with trying to place himself above the law. The theme running throughout these claims is that he cannot be held liable at law for anything he has done," said constitutional law expert Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor. "No president or former president has made such outlandish, self-serving claims."
The Supreme Court, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three Trump appointees, on Thursday is scheduled to hear Trump's appeal of a ruling by Colorado's top court that disqualified him from the state's Republican primary ballot under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment for engaging in insurrection. He is the frontrunner for his party's nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election.
While Trump has not asserted sweeping presidential immunity as a defense in that case, the Supreme Court still may have to confront the issue, including in criminal and civil actions over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss and defamation claims by a woman who accused him of rape.
Trump in the past has shown contempt for constraints on his actions. He famously said during his successful 2016 presidential campaign that he "could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters."
In his effort to escape federal criminal charges involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, a lawyer for Trump indicated to appellate judges that a president could order Navy commandos to assassinate a political rival and still be immune from prosecution unless first being impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate.
The amendment was ratified in the aftermath of the American Civil War of 1861-1865 in which 11 southern states seceded from the union.
The 4-3 Colorado Supreme Court ruling reversed a lower court judge’s conclusion that Trump engaged in insurrection by inciting his supporters to violence, but as president, he was not an “officer of the United States” who could be disqualified under the Fourteenth
President Trump asks us to hold that Section Three disqualifies every oath-breaking insurrectionist except the most powerful one and that it bars oath-breakers from virtually every office, both state and federal, except the highest one in the land. Both results are inconsistent with the plain language and history of Section Three,” the majority wrote.
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"Trump appears obsessed with trying to place himself above the law. The theme running throughout these claims is that he cannot be held liable at law for anything he has done," said constitutional law expert Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor. "No president or former president has made such outlandish, self-serving claims." The Supreme Court, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three Trump appointees, on Thursday is scheduled to hear Trump's appeal of a ruling by Colorado's top court that disqualified him from the state's Republican primary ballot under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment for engaging in insurrection. He is the frontrunner for his party's nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election. While Trump has not asserted sweeping presidential immunity as a defense in that case, the Supreme Court still may have to confront the issue, including in criminal and civil actions over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss and defamation claims by a woman who accused him of rape. Trump in the past has shown contempt for constraints on his actions. He famously said during his successful 2016 presidential campaign that he "could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters." In his effort to escape federal criminal charges involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, a lawyer for Trump indicated to appellate judges that a president could order Navy commandos to assassinate a political rival and still be immune from prosecution unless first being impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate
Acknowledging the magnitude of the case, the majority said, “We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.” Trump’s lawyers argued that his speech to supporters on the day of the riot was protected by his right to free speech, adding that the constitutional amendment does not apply to US presidents and that Congress would need to vote to disqualify a candidate. Amendment. The Colorado court concluded that Trump’s role in instigating violence at the Capitol as lawmakers met to certify the results of the 2020 election constituted engaging in insurrection, and that the presidency is covered by the insurrection provision.
The Supreme Court, whose 6-3 conservative majority includes three Trump appointees, on Thursday is scheduled to hear Trump’s appeal of a ruling by Colorado’s top court that disqualified him from the state’s Republican primary ballot under the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment for engaging
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