Colorado Supreme Court bars Trump from the ballot

I won't rehash the background or arguments here. I'm thinking the U.S. Supreme Court will reverse though. It seems to me that the 14th amendment belongs to congress and not the courts since congress has the power to remove the disability with a two thirds vote. We will see.

Congress also has the sole power to impeach and remove the president and refused to do so in this case. I question whether the courts can reverse that decision once made.

 

No, I can't be right now that I think about it. The Colorado Secretary of State can't seek a ruling from Congress. The Courts HAVE to be able to rule.

 

And because the action lies against a State official, the state courts are the ones who should hear it first. All of this is new territory.

 

I have to think the Supremes will reverse it. But is that a bad thing? Subjective criteria are hard to apply and (in this case) divisive and controversial. Assuming the Supremes overturn it, the people will be left to choose their next president.

 

President Trump isn't the same as candidate Trump. I don't see how the previous impeachment actions would matter. If Trump was found ineligible from one of the objective criteria--citizenship, for example--the fact that he served a term as president, nor his impeachments, would have any bearing on his ineligibility.

 

I don't know whether barring Trump from running or allowing him to run and lose (with the terrifying possibility that he might win) would be better for the country. I really don't like seeing the courts involved in political decision making but there's the law and a court doesn't generally have the right to refuse to decide a case properly before it.

 

Mulling it over some more...the U S Supreme Court's only viable option is to declare the matter "non-justiciable." The law is the law but courts can't decide cases under that law. After all, Congress would still have the power to impeach and remove Trump if he's elected (not that they would).

 

Or they could decline to take on the appeal. Man, I don't see that happening.

 

Well, my thinking is that the Senate was presented with the insurrection case as part of the second impeachment attempt. The Senate acquitted. I don't think that there can be any appeal or reconsideration of that decision by any court.

 

True. But if the Supreme Court upholds the Colorado court's decision, Colorado won't be the only state that keeps Trump off the ballot. True, states that are thoroughly devoted to Trumpism at every level will declare that he didn't attempt an insurrection, but the rest of the country will probably determine that he did and bar him from their primary ballots. Remember, it's the GOP nominating process we're talking about and every state, Red or Blue, matters to the MAGA fascist cause.

 

Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of Texas, has announced that Biden should be removed from the ballot in Texas for failures on the border.

Jeez, these people aren't even trying to perform their roles.

 

It's a very interesting situation.

On the one hand I'd love to see Trump crushed at the ballot box. On the other hand I'm sure he would just lie and say he won but the Democrats stole the election from him.

Two more hands On the one hand it would be nice if he wasn't on the ballot then I could rest assured that he can't win reelection. On the other hand he will probably be easier to beat in the general election than someone like Niki Haley.

 

+1 to your last point. Haley GOP will stop all progress and go back on stuff; on the other hand, she will not actively try to cancel democracy. May not be strong enough to oppose those that'll keep trying, though.

 

Trump will win the nomination unless he dies. It doesn't matter if he's indicted. It doesn't matter if he's convicted. And on the very unlikely chance he is incarcerated, it won't matter. Because he's going to wrap it up in March, before any of his criminal cases are heard.

And even if he's convicted some time between now and Election Day, he'll likely remain out on bond while appealing it. And if he's incarcerated, so what? Does this country elected a convicted and incarcerated Donald Trump? Sure! Why not? There is no reason to think that's the dividing line. (Recent polling does show his popularity will take a hit if he's convicted. But it's hard to say at this point whether it would be enough to ensure his defeat.)

I wish Americans took their politics, legislating, and governing more seriously. If so, Trump would have been disqualified the moment he went on that rant about immigrants in 2015.

 

The only way he doesn't win the Republican nomination is if the SCOTUS rules that he's ineligible to run because of the 14th amendment. Which I admit is very iffy.

Disclaimer: As an example of my naïve incompetence when it comes to the Supreme Court, in Bush v. Gore I thought no way would they rule the way they did because it would set a bad precedent. Then in their ruling they simply declared that the ruling would not set any precedent. Duh!

 

Yeah, even our State Supreme and Appeals Courts do that. I think it's bogus. The implication is that the judges decide a particular case but may decide the next one, similar in all material respects, differently. I don't think common law courts get to do that.

 

Ambivalence on display...the kiddies' table has to huff and puff a bit but brother wouldn't they just LOVE for the courts to bar Trump from the ballot.