From the BBC:
“Supreme Court to rule if
Trump can run for president”
The US Supreme Court has said it
will hear a historic case to determine if Donald Trump can run for president. The
justices agreed to take up Mr Trump's appeal against a decision by Colorado to
remove him from the 2024 ballot in that state. The case will be heard in
February and the ruling will apply nationwide.
Lawsuits in a number of states
are seeking to disqualify Mr Trump, arguing that he engaged in insurrection
during the US Capitol riot three years ago.
The legal challenges hinge on
whether a Civil War-era constitutional amendment renders Mr Trump ineligible to
stand as a candidate. The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution bans anyone who
has "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding federal
office, but the former president's lawyers argue it does not apply to the
president. His lawyers have argued: "The Colorado Supreme Court decision
would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and
likely be used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters
nationwide." Mr Trump has also appealed against a decision by electoral
officials in Maine to remove him from the ballot.
The split 4-3 decision by
Colorado's high court last month marks the first time in US history that the
14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate from the
ballot. Mr Trump is the current Republican front-runner for a likely rematch
against President Joe Biden, a Democrat, in this November's election. Courts in
Minnesota and Michigan have dismissed attempts to disqualify Mr Trump. Other
cases, including in Oregon, are pending.
The US Supreme Court has a
conservative majority - with three justices appointed by Mr Trump when he was
president. But they overwhelmingly ruled against him in his lawsuits
challenging his defeat to Mr Biden in 2020. The court on Friday agreed to take
up the case in an expedited manner, with oral arguments scheduled for 8
February. Mr Trump's legal team is due to file their opening brief by 18
January. The group arguing for Mr Trump's disqualification must submit its
argument by 31 January. The involvement of the top US court has drawn
comparisons to the 2000 presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore,
which ended in a lawsuit at the Supreme Court. The court's decision to halt
Florida's vote recount essentially handed victory to Mr Bush.
University of Richmond Professor
Cart Tobias says the "exceptionally fast track" was "predictable
and necessitated by the growing number of cases being filed in various states
around the country". With state primary elections fast approaching, there
is a "compelling need for election officials in many states to
prepare" and also they "need for time to plan and execute smooth
voting processes on short notice". Cases at the Supreme Court normally
take between four and 12 months - in contrast with the few weeks that justices
have currently scheduled. On the day of the US Capitol riot, supporters of Mr
Trump stormed Congress as lawmakers were certifying Mr Biden's election
victory. That day the then-president held a rally outside the White House where
he repeated false claims of mass election fraud as he urged protesters to
"fight like hell", but also to march "peacefully" to the
Capitol. Mr Trump's critics argue that he should be disqualified not only for
his actions during the riot, but for his and his campaign's efforts to overturn
the lection result in Republican-aligned states that he lost. While Mr Trump's
alleged efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election are
the focus of trials in federal court and a state court in Georgia, he has not
been criminally charged with inciting insurrection in either case.
^ All eyes will be on this Supreme
Court decision. Hopefully they will make the right call – unlike when they overturned
Roe v Wade. ^
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