They did not, however, weigh into the vexed question of whether Trump engaged in an insurrection by attempting to overthrow the 2020 election results, which culminated in the deadly attack at the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said she was disappointed in the court’s decision to strip the states of the authority to enforce Section 3, writing on social media: “Colorado should be able to bar oath-breaking insurrections from our ballot.”
But the ruling seemed inevitable after oral arguments last month, where Trump’s lawyers argued that Colorado’s attempt to remove him from the ballot could disenfranchise millions of Americans who wanted the former president as a candidate in the general election in November.
Trump lawyer John Mitchell had also insisted that the former president’s actions surrounding the general January 6 riots in 2021 did not amount to anything “that can plausibly be characterised as insurrection”.
“For an insurrection, it needs to be organised, concerted effort to overthrow the government of the United States through violence,” he said. “None of these criteria were met. This was a riot; it was not an insurrection. The events were shameful, criminal, violent – all of those things – but did not qualify an insurrection as that term is used in section 3.”
Throughout last month’s hearing, justices on both sides of the ideological aisle expressed concerns about Colorado’s position and the precedent it could set.
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“If Colorado’s position is upheld, surely there will be disqualification proceedings on the other side,” chief Justice John Roberts noted at the time.
Democrat appointed Justice Elena Kagan also expressed concerns, telling Colorado lawyers “I think that the question you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States”.
The Colorado decision comes after the Supreme Court agreed to hear another case, involving Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution for trying to subvert the 2020 election.
The justices last week announced that they would hear arguments about Trump’s immunity claim in April, which is likely to push back the start of any trial to at least September. This move has almost certainly helped Trump’s campaign as the former president has made it clear that delaying his court cases is part of his strategy to fighting them.
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