The efforts to disqualify Donald Trump from running for president, under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment are not succeeding. It has been in the news recently, as the Colorado Supreme Court heard oral arguments on December 5, 2023. The Court can either uphold the lower court ruling, and keep Trump on the ballot, or reverse the decision, and then Trump is off the ballot. Appeals to the Supreme Court for an emergency hearing would be immediately submitted if he is taken off the ballot. Otherwise, I believe this will end the challenge in Colorado and the dismissal will be permanent.

Colorado’s district court dismissed the lawsuit, stating Section 3 of the 14th Amendment did not apply to the president. But, the ruling likely pleased petitioners in part, as the judge opined that the violence on January 6, 2021 did qualify as an insurrection.

Other lower court dismissals (Minnesota, Michigan, Florida and New Hampshire) offered a chance for re-filing. Minnesota district court considered that Section 3 did not apply to primaries. Michigan district court considered disqualification a political question, not one to be decided by the courts.

The two other cases (Florida and New Hampshire) were rejected quickly on a demonstration of actual harm if Donald Trump ran for president. In New Hampshire, an attorney, John Anthony Castro, registered to run for president, and tried to convince the court, that allowing Donald Trump on the ballot, would cause his candidacy harm. The courts didn’t buy it.

The courts in other states will take notice of the many ways to dismiss legal challenges. Certainly ruling that a case has no standing, is the most efficient one, as the court does not need to get into the more nuanced arguments of whether Trump encouragement of the January 6 violence was “engaging in insurrection.”

The basis of democracy is we select our president at the ballot box by having all eligible voters being able to cast their ballot. Excluding a candidate from even one state, could be decisive in a close election. I have posted an opinion previously that these lawsuits run counter to our democratic processes. The courts should lean towards narrow interpretation of rules and laws and restrict their role in deciding whether to exclude both voters and candidates in the election process.

Stay tuned,

Dave