CV NEWS FEED // In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Colorado must keep the name of former President Donald Trump on the state’s primary and general 2024 election ballots.
The Court found that the Colorado Supreme Court erred in invoking Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution when it voted 4-3 to disqualify Trump in December.
By extension, Monday’s unanimous ruling also stops previous attempts by Democratic officials in Illinois and Maine to remove the former president from their states’ ballots.
In the ruling, the justices noted that “the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3.”
“This case raises the question whether the States, in addition to Congress, may also enforce Section 3,” the Court’s opinion continued.
“States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office,” wrote the justices. “But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency.”
>> DECEMBER: CO SUPREME COURT RULES TRUMP IS ‘DISQUALIFIED’ <<
Soon after the ruling was announced, Trump took to TRUTH Social, writing in all capital letters that the unanimous decision was a “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!”
Attorney Harmeet Dhillon stated that the “decision underscores the bedrock principles of our democracy and the rule of law.”
“This victory is not just for President Trump but for the integrity of our electoral system and the rights of voters across the country,” she emphasized. “The attempt to use the 14th Amendment in this manner was a dangerous overreach that, if left unchallenged, could have set a perilous precedent for future election[s].”
Dhillon noted on X (formerly Twitter) that her law firm “serves as the chief litigation firm for the Trump campaign on the 14th Amendment issues.”
Rep. Don Bacon, R-NE, also praised the decision on X. Bacon is a moderate Republican who has criticized Trump on several occasions.
“Our country has the best checks and balances system in the world, and today’s ruling by the Supreme Court proves it,” Bacon wrote.
Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach agreed.
“The Supreme Court carefully and correctly interpreted section 3 of the 14th amendment,” wrote Kobach. “A rare 9–0 decision.”
As CatholicVote previously reported, the Colorado ballot case marked “the first time the Supreme Court has ever heard a case regarding” Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
“The Constitutional provision was ratified in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War,” CatholicVote added. “Prior to the past few months, it was almost never invoked in its more-than-150-year history.”
>> JANUARY: TRUMP TAKES CO TO SCOTUS OVER BALLOT DECISION <<
The section prevents individuals “having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States … to support the Constitution” from “hold[ing] any office, civil or military” if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
In the Colorado, Illinois, and Maine cases, the entities vying to boot Trump from the ballot argued that the events of January 6, 2021 qualified as an “insurrection.” The former president’s lawyers contested this controversial characterization.