The Colorado Supreme Court has rendered a consequential decision by excluding former US President Donald Trump from the state's 2024 ballot, asserting that he is ineligible for presidential candidacy due to the 14th Amendment's "insurrectionist ban."
The ruling, which saw a 4-3 split, will be temporarily suspended until January 4, pending Trump's appeal to the US Supreme Court, potentially establishing a precedent for the entire nation.
While the impact of this decision is confined to Colorado, its historic nature is poised to disrupt the landscape of the 2024 presidential campaign. Colorado election officials have emphasized the need for resolution by January 5, the statutory deadline for finalizing the list of candidates for the GOP primary scheduled for March 5.
In an unsigned opinion, the majority of the court asserted, "President Trump did not merely incite the insurrection. Even when the siege on the Capitol was fully underway, he continued to support it by repeatedly demanding that Vice President (Mike) Pence refuse to perform his constitutional duty and by calling Senators to persuade them to stop the counting of electoral votes. These actions constituted overt, voluntary, and direct participation in the insurrection."
The court further stated, "We conclude that the foregoing evidence, the great bulk of which was undisputed at trial, established that President Trump engaged in insurrection. President Trump's direct and express efforts, over several months, exhorting his supporters to march to the Capitol to prevent what he falsely characterized as an alleged fraud on the people of this country were indisputably overt and voluntary."
In addition to removing Trump's candidacy, the court rejected his free speech claims, stating, "President Trump's speech on January 6 was not protected by the First Amendment."
The legal basis for the ruling lies in the 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, which stipulates that officials who take an oath to support the Constitution are prohibited from holding future office if they "engaged in insurrection." Despite its vague wording and lack of explicit mention of the presidency, this provision has been applied only twice since 1919.
All seven justices on the Colorado Supreme Court were appointed by Democratic governors, with six winning statewide retention elections to remain on the bench. The seventh justice, appointed in 2021, has yet to face voters, as reported by CNN.
