Colorado Supreme Court justices have sharply questioned whether they could exclude former President Donald Trump from the state's 2024 ballot
DENVER (AP) — Colorado Supreme Court justices on Wednesday sharply questioned both sides about whether they could exclude former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot in a case that seeks to upend his bid for a second term by claiming the Constitution's insurrection clause bars him from another run for the White House.
At issue is the wording of the Civil War-era clause itself, whether the courts have a right to intervene at this stage if Trump has otherwise met the basic requirements to appear on Colorado's 2024 primary ballot and whether Trump indeed incited an insurrection when his supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Attorneys who sued to strike Trump from the ballot were appealing a lower court ruling that the former president engaged in insurrection, but that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment doesn't actually bar insurrectionists from the nation's highest elected position. While the clause refers to the U.S. House and Senate and even presidential and vice presidential electors, it does not mention the presidency.
“If it was so important that the president be included, I come back to the question, Why not spell it out?" Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. said. “Why not include president and vice president in how they spell out senator or representative?”
Jason Murray, attorney for the petitioners, argued that the clause "applies to any office,” which he said would include the presidency. He said it would be ridiculous for the amendment's framers, who were trying to keep former members of the Confederacy from retaking power, to have intended otherwise.
Continuous reading on:
