In a landmark decision on Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court declared that Donald Trump is ineligible to run for president in 2024 due to his involvement in the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot.
The ruling, based on the 14th Amendment, not only excludes Trump from the presidential primary ballot but also sets the stage for a potential legal showdown at the national level over the upcoming election.
The 4-3 decision is anticipated to be contested, triggering strong reactions from both supporters of the former president and those who criticized his actions on January 6. The majority of Colorado’s seven justices asserted that Trump had “engaged in insurrection.”
According to the justices, “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.”
They further argued, “Moreover, the evidence amply showed that President Trump undertook all these actions to aid and further a common unlawful purpose that he himself conceived and set in motion: prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election and stop the peaceful transfer of power.”
As a result, the ruling stated, “[W]e conclude that because President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list President Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.”
The justices, pending appeal, have temporarily suspended their decision until January 4.
However, three judges dissented from the ruling: Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright, Justices Carlos A. Samour Jr., and Maria E. Berkenkotter.
Chief Justice Boatright argued in his dissent that the absence of an insurrection-related conviction against Trump should have led to the dismissal of the case.
Justice Samour contended that the majority’s opinion contradicts the due process doctrine.
This ruling marks the conclusion of a prolonged challenge in Colorado to Trump’s eligibility for the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
This constitutional clause, dating back to the Civil War era, renders former officeholders ineligible for re-election if they took an oath to support the Constitution and subsequently engaged in “insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S.
