Colorado Supreme Court: In a significant ruling delivered on 19-12-2023, Colorado Supreme Court, with a ratio of 4:3, declared former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s Insurrection Clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, that is to say that the Court has disqualified Former President Trump from holding the office of “President of United States of America” under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
What makes this ruling even more significant is that for the first time in history, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a Presidential candidate. The provision states that, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”1.
The Supreme Court overturned a ruling from a District Court Judge who found that Donald Trump had a role in inciting an insurrection in 06-01-2021, attack on the Capitol, but held that Trump could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was intended to cover the Presidency.
Source: Associated Press
Image Source: @realDonaldTrump/ Twitter
1. Fourteenth Amendment Section 3 | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress