WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a unanimous decision, all nine United States Supreme Court Justices on Monday, March 4, reversed the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump, from the state’s primary ballot on the grounds that he participated in insurrection.
“BIG WIN FOR AMERICA,” Trump posted on Truth Social reacting to the unanimous Supreme Court decision.
All nine Justices agreed with Trump’s attorneys who argued that the U.S. Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates.
“Responsibility for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates rests with Congress and not the States. The judgment of the Colorado Supreme Court therefore cannot stand…. The judgment of the Colorado Supreme Court is reversed.,” the unanimous ruling reads.
“Allowing Colorado to do so would, we agree, create a chaotic state-by-state patchwork, at odds with our Nation’s federalism principles. That is enough to resolve this case,” Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Katanji Jackson wrote in their joint opinion.
However, the three justices criticized Justices John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Barrett for stating in their ruling that “insurrection can occur only when Congress enacts a particular kind of legislation pursuant to Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment;” hence ending all of the current cases of insurrection against Trump, until Congress enacts a law to do so.
Although the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump, was formally impeached by the 117th Congress on January 13, 2021, for “high crimes and misdemeanors” related to the January 6th Capitol Breach, the Senate acquitted Trump of the impeachment charge on February 13, 2021.
The Supreme Court ruling in turn, not only reverses the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove Trump from its primary ballot, the actions by Illinois and Maine are also now reversed.
In a 4-3 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in September of 2023 that former President Donald J Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This section of the constitution contains a “disqualification clause” that kept former Confederate officials from gaining power in government during the reconstruction period following the U.S. Civil War.
The Maine Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows (D), unilaterally ruled on December 28, 2023, that the 45th President of the United States and leading GOP Presidential nominee, Donald J Trump, is disqualified from the state’s 2024 Primary Ballot under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. The same was done by Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, for the same reason.
The ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court comes one day before Super Tuesday on March 5 where a third of all Republican delegates are up for grabs—874 delegates in 15 states and one territory. The 45th President of the United States and presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald J Trump, has so far won all Republican presidential primaries or caucuses leading up the Super Tuesday.
The Washington State Presidential ballots have been mailed and are due no later than March 12.
Author: Mario Lotmore
