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Supreme Court hears arguments over whether states can bar Trump from presidential ballot under 14th Amendment
Summary
In oral arguments in Trump v. Anderson, counsel disputed whether Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment allows states to prevent a presidential candidate from appearing on the ballot and whether that power belongs to states under Article II or rests with Congress and federal enforcement mechanisms.
The Supreme Court heard argument on whether Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment permits a state to exclude a presidential candidate — here, former President Donald J. Trump — from its ballot.
Mister Mitchell, counsel for the petitioner, told the justices that the Colorado Supreme Court erred by holding that Mr. Trump is disqualified under Section 3. "The Colorado Supreme Court held that president Donald j Trump is constitutionally disqualified from serving as president under section 3 of the fourteenth amendment," Mitchell said in his opening, and he urged reversal on two principal grounds: that the president is not an "officer of the United States" as the phrase is used in the Constitution, and that states may not enforce Section 3 in the absence of congressional implementing legislation (relying on Griffin and post‑1870 statutory history).
Opposing counsel, Mister Murray, told the justices the facts here are extraordinary: "By engaging in insurrection against the Constitution, president Trump disqualified himself from public office," he said,…
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