Current:Home > BackSupreme Court is urged to rule Trump is ineligible to be president again because of the Jan. 6 riot-LoTradeCoin
Supreme Court is urged to rule Trump is ineligible to be president again because of the Jan. 6 riot
View Date:2024-12-23 20:41:18
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court should declare that Donald Trump is ineligible to be president again because he spearheaded the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn his 2020 election loss, lawyers leading the fight to keep him off the ballot told the justices on Friday.
In a filing filled with vivid descriptions of the Jan. 6, 2021, violence at the Capitol, the lawyers urged the justices not to flinch from doing their constitutional duty and to uphold a first-of-its-kind Colorado court decision to kick the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner off the state’s primary ballot.
“Nobody, not even a former President, is above the law,” the lawyers wrote.
The court will hear arguments in less than two weeks in a historic case that has the potential to disrupt the 2024 presidential election.
The case presents the high court with its first look at a provision of the 14th Amendment barring some people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office. The amendment was adopted in 1868, following the Civil War.
In their plea to the court, the lawyers said, “Trump intentionally organized and incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol in a desperate effort to prevent the counting of electoral votes cast against him” after he lost the election to Democrat Joe Biden.
They called for a decision that makes clear that what happened on Jan. 6 was an insurrection, for which Trump bears responsibility. The president is covered by the constitutional provision at issue, and Congress doesn’t need to take action before states can apply it, the lawyers wrote.
The written filing includes extensive details of Trump’s actions leading up to Jan. 6, including his tweet on Dec. 19, 2020, in which he informed his followers of the planned protest on the day Congress would count the electoral votes and wrote, “Be there, will be wild.”
Then in his speech to supporters on Jan. 6, the lawyers wrote, “Trump lit the fuse.” The brief reproduces photographs of the mayhem from that day, including one of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Daniel Hodges pinned in a doorway during the attack.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that efforts to keep him off the ballot “threaten to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans and ... promise to unleash chaos and bedlam” if other states follow Colorado’s lead.
The Colorado Supreme Court’s 4-3 ruling should be reversed for any of several reasons, Trump’s lawyers wrote, including that Trump did not engage in insurrection and that the presidency is not covered by the amendment. They also contend that Congress would have to enact legislation before states could invoke the provision to keep candidates off the ballot.
The justices are hearing arguments Feb. 8. Trump already has won the first two GOP presidential contests: the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is Trump’s sole remaining significant GOP opponent.
Still, both sides have said the court needs to act quickly so that voters know whether Trump is eligible to hold the presidency.
The court is dealing with the dispute under a compressed timeframe that could produce a decision before Super Tuesday on March 5, when the largest number of delegates in a day is up for grabs, including in Colorado.
A two-sentence provision in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states that anyone who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it is no longer eligible for state or federal office. After Congress passed an amnesty for most of the former confederates the measure targeted in 1872, the provision fell into disuse until dozens of suits were filed to keep Trump off the ballot this year. Only the one in Colorado was successful.
Trump is separately appealing to state court a ruling by Maine’s Democratic secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, that he is ineligible to appear on that state’s ballot over his role in the Capitol attack. Both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine secretary of state’s rulings are on hold until the appeals play out.
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Kentucky gets early signature win at Champions Classic against Duke | Opinion
- After the Wars in Iraq, ‘Everything Living is Dying’
- Hyundai and Kia recall 571,000 vehicles due to fire risk, urge owners to park outside
- See Jennifer Lawrence and Andy Cohen Kiss During OMG WWHL Moment
- Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid Enjoy a Broadway Date Night and All that Jazz
- Teetering banks put Biden between a bailout and a hard place ahead of the 2024 race
- As Lake Powell Hits Landmark Low, Arizona Looks to a $1 Billion Investment and Mexican Seawater to Slake its Thirst
- Why tech bros are trying to give away all their money (kind of)
- Reese Witherspoon's Daughter Ava Phillippe Introduces Adorable New Family Member
- Bill Gates’ Vision for Next-Generation Nuclear Power in Wyoming Coal Country
Ranking
- Why Josh O'Connor Calls Sex Scenes Least Sexy Thing After Challengers With Zendaya and Mike Faist
- GEO Group sickened ICE detainees with hazardous chemicals for months, a lawsuit says
- Inside Clean Energy: What’s Cool, What We Suspect and What We Don’t Yet Know about Ford’s Electric F-150
- ‘We’re Being Wrapped in Poison’: A Century of Oil and Gas Development Has Devastated the Ponca City Region of Northern Oklahoma
- Forget the bathroom. When renovating a home, a good roof is a no-brainer, experts say.
- Jobs and Technology Take Center Stage at Friday’s Summit, With Biden Pitching Climate Action as a Boon for the Economy
- After Fukushima, a Fundamental Renewable Energy Shift in Japan Never Happened. Could Global Climate Concerns Bring it Today?
- Chris Noth Slams Absolute Nonsense Report About Sex and the City Cast After Scandal
Recommendation
-
CFP bracket prediction: SEC adds a fifth team to field while a Big Ten unbeaten falls out
-
Dwyane Wade Recalls Daughter Zaya Being Scared to Talk to Him About Her Identity
-
NASCAR Star Jimmie Johnson's 11-Year-Old Nephew & In-Laws Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide
-
Wife of Gilgo Beach murders suspect Rex Heuermann files for divorce as woman shares eerie encounter with him
-
Avril Lavigne’s Ex Mod Sun Is Dating Love Is Blind Star Brittany Wisniewski, Debuts Romance With a Kiss
-
The U.S. condemns Russia's arrest of a Wall Street Journal reporter
-
A Bridge to Composting and Clean Air in South Baltimore
-
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Son Moses Looks Just Like Dad Chris Martin in New Photo