In arguments Thursday, the justices will, for the first time, wrestle with a constitutional provision that was adopted after the Civil War to prevent former officeholders who “engaged in insurrection” from reclaiming power.

The case is the court’s most direct involvement in a presidential election since Bush v. Gore, a decision delivered a quarter-century ago that effectively delivered the 2000 election to Republican George W. Bush. It comes to a court that has been buffeted by criticism over ethics, which led the justices to adopt their first code of conduct in November, and at a time when public approval of the court is diminished, at near-record lows in surveys.

The dispute stems from the push by Republican and independent voters in Colorado to kick Trump off the state’s Republican primary ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

  • MagicShel@programming.dev
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    9 months ago

    I’m not expecting much from them, but when I played devil’s advocate with myself to find loopholes or excuses they might say he must remain, I can’t find one. I suppose the only loophole is if they say it wasn’t an insurrection, but everything else seems tighter than a drum.

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago
      • it is up to Congress to rule that he did engage and since the second impeachment failed they did so already

      • The president isn’t an officer of the US

      • Being on the ballet is a state level issue and the states have no mechanism for removal as the constitution is written

      • It wasn’t insurrection it was a riot

      • He really isn’t on the ballet, the electors are

      See it is easy if the truth doesn’t matter.

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
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        9 months ago

        All of those things are wrong. They’ve been directly addressed and none of those arguments are winnable except maybe a definition of insurrection, but storming the Capitol violently qualifies by any laymen’s understanding of the word.

        • forrgott@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          Well, considering they’ve made rulings based on entirely fabricated evidence, I’m not very confident.

        • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Cool so I am sure the Supreme Court cares that someone said that they were wrong and will do the right thing. Which is why a fetus has more rights than a woman does.

    • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      They could just say “fuck you” and rule 7-3 in Trump’s favor. They don’t need to actually make arguments.

      The argumentation they do is mostly just propaganda to keep people from rioting about bad decisions.

    • Orbituary@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      There are a few choices they have in my eyes.

      • A) he’s not an insurrectionist.
      • B) “it’s too close to an election”
      • C) the Constitution doesn’t matter
      • D) ???
      • E) Profit.

      I doubt they’ll do the right thing.

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      The one major issue I see with this whole endeavor is who gets to make that determination that there was an attempt at insurrection. Yeah, I get it, we all saw it happen in real time. We know he’s guilty.

      But this court may say “if some is suspected of being disqualified due to Amendment 14, someone should challenge and have a court decide”. And you know what will happen next. Some idiot Texas judge will declare that Biden and Harris are both leading an insurrection at the border. And Poof! Mike Johnson in now President.

      • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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        9 months ago

        He’s off the ballot in CO because someone challenged and a court decided, and now the case has risen to the Supreme Court because an appeal was made. This is as judicial a process as possible.

        Now if the Supreme Court accepts a lower court’s ruling that Biden is ineligible, then it’s a constitutional crisis and people will need to decide who they believe is faithfully executing their duties.

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
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        9 months ago

        A court didn’t decide when the amendment was created and applied. It applied to people without trial. However I agree with the chaos such a ruling could create and it would probably be worse than having Trump on the ballot.

      • girlfreddy@lemmy.caOP
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        9 months ago

        The nice thing about the 14th Amendment is that nobody has to decide what insurrection is, because there is another option that was clearly breached on Jan 6th.

        shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
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        9 months ago

        I hate holding out hope, too. If it helps I’m sure I’m wrong. They will find some excuse, and it will be horrible precedent.

        • Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com
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          9 months ago

          On the plus side, then Biden could organize a mob to storm the court. And no coy subterfuge this time. Man up and get shit done right.

          /s of course

    • MxM111@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Here is one: the constitution says nothing about being on the ballot. Only about serving.

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
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        9 months ago

        Having someone on the ballot who is ineligible to serve has already been tried (before Gorsuch before he was on the SCOTUS) and it turns out if you can’t serve you can’t be on may be excluded from the ballot. This from following legal blogs so apologies if I don’t have that quite right.

        • Cuberoot@lemmynsfw.com
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          9 months ago

          Really? What about Nicaraguan-born Roger Calero who was the SWP nominee in 2004 (his VP candidate was a citizen by birth, but was only 28). Several states had the SWP run an eligible candidate instead, but at least 5 of them listed Calero/Hawkins.

          • MagicShel@programming.dev
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            9 months ago

            Back in 2012, Gorsuch was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. In that capacity, he wrote the panel opinion in Hassan v. Colorado. Hassan, a naturalized citizen, sued Colorado, arguing it was required to put him on the presidential ballot even though he was not a natural-born citizen and was therefore not constitutionally qualified to run for president. The Tenth Circuit ruled against him, with Gorsuch writing that states have “a legitimate interest in protecting the integrity and practical functioning of the political process” and that because of that, they can “exclude from the ballot candidates who are constitutionally prohibited from assuming office.” It’s that quote that makes its way into the Colorado Supreme Court opinion.

            I googled the situation and that’s what comes up. I’m not qualified to explain it any better.

            Edit: it appears my version was slightly wrong. It’s not that he can’t be on the ballot, it’s that there is no requirement that he be on the ballot if the state wants to exclude him based on ineligibility.