Colorado Supreme Court Bars Trump From Ballot - 14th Amendment

I agree with every finding of the majority and disagree - on prudential grounds  with the conclusion.

Absent a conviction of Trump for his attempt to block the lawful transfer of power I think that denial of the right to vote for him will dangerously deepen the divisions in society and will incite the most lawless elements among us.

- GWC

Colorado Supreme Court

Anderson v. Griswold 2023 CO 63

Per Curiam

CHIEF JUSTICE BOATRIGHT dissented. 

JUSTICE SAMOUR dissented. 

JUSTICE BERKENKOTTER dissented.

The Electors and President Trump sought this court’s review of various rulings by the district court. We affirm in part and reverse in part. We hold as follows: 

• The Election Code allows the Electors to challenge President Trump’s status as a qualified candidate based on Section Three. Indeed, the Election Code provides the Electors their only viable means of litigating whether President Trump is disqualified from holding office under Section Three. 

• Congress does not need to pass implementing legislation for Section Three’s disqualification provision to attach, and Section Three is, in that sense, self-executing. 

• Judicial review of President Trump’s eligibility for office under Section Three is not precluded by the political question doctrine.

Section Three encompasses the office of the Presidency and someone who has taken an oath as President. On this point, the district court committed reversible error. 

• The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting portions of Congress’s January 6 Report into evidence at trial. 

• The district court did not err in concluding that the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, constituted an “insurrection.” 

• The district court did not err in concluding that President Trump “engaged in” that insurrection through his personal actions.

 • President Trump’s speech inciting the crowd that breached the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was not protected by the First Amendment. ¶5 

The sum of these parts is this: President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three; because he is disqualified, it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list him as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. ¶6  

 We do not reach these conclusions lightly. We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach. ¶7 We are also cognizant that we travel in uncharted territory, and that this case presents several issues of first impression.