A big legal week for Donald Trump, who, after suffering a major setback over his presidential immunity in a federal appeals court on Tuesday, will see his eligibility to run in November's presidential election heard before the United States Supreme Court on Thursday.
The highest US court is already preparing to hear arguments on the legality of removing the populist's name from ballots in Colorado because of his participation in the January 6, 2021, uprising against the Capitol. The state Supreme Court ruled last December that a provision of the U.S. Constitution allows local election officials to do so.
This is the first time in the country's history that its Supreme Court has had to consider this constitutional point forgotten for more than 100 years, the reading and interpretation of which has become a major issue while Donald Trump has established himself as the preferred Republican candidate. In the election cycle that has just begun in the United States.
What will the Supreme Court look at?
The court will consider the 14thH Amendment to the Constitution, which has thus far found itself at the center of the development of American law and democracy regarding questions of civil rights or private life. Among other things.
Section 3 of this amendment, ratified in 1868, following the Civil War, had received little attention until the end of 2020. This provision is intended to prevent former elected officials or office holders from publicly “engaging in insurrection” to regain power. The march of Donald Trump's supporters, launched by the former president against the US legislative authority on January 6, 2021, unfortunately gave it a new look.
“I am very happy to see that the Supreme Court will finally make a decision on this issue,” he said in an interview. duty This week, Gerard Magliocca, a law professor at Indiana University, who was one of the first to invoke this Section 3 to the present, on December 29, 2020, just eight days before this insurrection aimed at decertifying votes cast during the election . The presidential election favors Joe Biden. “It is very important that we decide whether Donald Trump can run before the election.”
The Colorado Supreme Court, ruled by a group of six Republican and independent electors, last December, by a majority of four justices to three, ruled that the former president did indeed participate in an insurrection and, for that reason, his name should be removed from the list. Ballots for the November presidential election.
A few days later, Maine's Democratic Secretary of State also cited that constitutional provision to in turn exclude Donald Trump from voting in this corner of New England. Both decisions have been temporarily put on hold pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
What arguments will the parties involved in this case defend?
Lawyers for the citizens who brought their case before Colorado courts relied heavily on the work of the bipartisan parliamentary committee tasked with the investigation on January 6. His report established the former president's responsibility in this attempt to prevent the peaceful transition of executive power by seeking to prevent the certification of votes by American elected officials.
According to them, Section 3 of 14H The amendment was also tested in September 2022 on a rural county commissioner in New Mexico — that's named Coy Griffin — who was fired from office by a judge in that state after being found guilty of storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He was the leader of a group of insurrectionists called Cowboys for Trump. This was the first time in over 100 years that this point of the Constitution had been used. The man took this decision to the Supreme Court.
The populist billionaire's defense team will certainly seek to play on the 111 words that make up this Section 3, stressing for their part that the punishment, according to the text, targets many public office holders and officials in the United States, but without ever. With the duties of the president or vice president clearly stated. Trump's lawyers could also argue that the former president pledged to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” by taking the oath of office. However, Section 3 records the fact of participating in the rebellion after swearing an oath to “support” this Constitution. There is a difference in the action for which punishment should be avoided, and they are convinced.
As for Donald Trump, “the Colorado Supreme Court overstepped its authority by interpreting state law, doing it so poorly that it betrayed” the lawmaker’s rulings, he wrote Friday. In a blog post by Derek Mueller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, who has followed this case closely. But things went badly for Trump. [qui] He lost on the merits in the only two jurisdictions, Colorado and Maine, where the US Constitution turned against him, foretelling a decision that might be unfavorable in the Supreme Court.
His lawyers will also seek to argue that the former president is not an insurrectionist because he did not storm the doors of the Capitol on January 6 — an idea that was also defended politically this week, on the eve of the Senate's first hearings. Court, by many of its political allies within the American legislative apparatus. On Tuesday, about sixty of them revealed a decision confirming that Donald Trump “did not participate in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.” With its thin and chaotic Republican majority, it is not clear that the House of Representatives will succeed in passing it.
What can the Supreme Court decide?
In this case, the nation's highest court has been placed at a deeply uncomfortable intersection between law and politics, a collision point not particularly appreciated by the nine justices who make up that body. But she has several options that would prevent her from making a final decision, despite both parties’ insistence on the importance of judging Donald Trump’s eligibility before the next presidential elections.
The US Supreme Court could say the case is not mature enough to make a decision. Or judge only whether Trump is electable in Colorado, but not anywhere else in the country. It could also put the populist's fate in the hands of the government, Congress, or even voters.
Article 3 of 14H The amendment allows elected officials to overturn a disqualification affecting a former U.S. officer by a two-thirds vote of the House of Representatives, a highly unlikely scenario if applied to Donald Trump, due to the strong division between the powers. Present in Congress.
“The Supreme Court could also confirm that a decision on its part would only be required if Trump wins the November election,” adds US constitutional lawyer Gerard Magliocca. “But I hope she doesn't go that route and instead decides whether she's eligible or not.”
Currently, the former president's right to have his name on the ballot is disputed in 35 states across the country, according to The review he conducted The New York Times.
“The impact of the Supreme Court’s decision will be enormous,” whether Trump is found eligible or ineligible to run, Mr. Magliocca said, because the nation’s highest court would therefore be obligated to address the very sensitive subject of the 2020 presidential election.
The former president justified the attack on the Capitol by pointing to widespread electoral fraud, which, four years later, still contradicts the facts.
