The Supreme Court of Colorado ruled yesterday Tuesday that the Donald Trump he is ineligible to run for president because of his actions when his followers attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, a decision characterized as a political shock with potentially serious consequences that remain to be seen amid an already stormy election campaign campaign ahead of the November 2024 presidential elections.

All eyes are now on the US federal Supreme Court, to which the Republican former president will appeal, as his representative clarified.

By a majority of four justices out of seven, the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed a lower court ruling that found that Donald Trump committed “treason” on January 6, 2021, while also ruling – overturning the original ruling – that Article 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of USA, by virtue of which he decided that he has no right to be a candidate, is indeed applicable, even though the person concerned was the president of the country when the events unfolded.

That day, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed the federal Capitol to try to block the ratification of the November 2020 election result, the victory of his Democratic opponent Joe Biden.

The historic indictment of the former president on August 1st at the federal level and then on August 14th in the state of Georgia for his alleged illegal actions to achieve a reversal of the 2020 election result opened legal debates about whether he has the right to be again running for the highest state office and led to appeals to the courts of several states.

Of the approximately fifteen such proceedings in various states, two have already been dismissed in Minnesota and Michigan; the Colorado justice became the first to rule that Donald Trump cannot be a candidate.

In their ruling, in which they instruct the electoral authorities of this state in the American West – a traditional stronghold of the Democrats – to withdraw his name from the ballots in view of the internal process of the Republicans in this state to nominate their candidate in the presidential elections , the judges note that they are “aware” that the decision potentially takes the country into “uncharted territory”.

Moreover, they are suspending the implementation of their decision until January 4, to allow time to appeal to the federal Supreme Court until then.

If there is an appeal to the federal Supreme Court before the suspension expires, it will remain in effect and election officials “must include former President Trump’s name on the 2024 Republican primary ballot until it is removed (. ..) decision of the Supreme Court”, according to the decision.

As a result, pending a decision by the federal Supreme Court, many commentators assume that Donald Trump’s name will still be on the ballots of the Republican caucus in Colorado, as well as those of the other states where the “Super Tuesday” vote will be held. on March 5, 2024.

“anti-democratic”

The Republican camp immediately denounced the “anti-democratic” attack on the candidate.

“The Colorado Supreme Court issued a completely problematic decision (…) and we will quickly appeal to the US Supreme Court and ask that this deeply undemocratic decision be stayed,” said Stephen Chang, the spokesman for Donald Trump’s election campaign. in a press release he released.

The Republican president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, judged for his part that the decision is “irresponsible” and nothing less than “a thinly veiled partisan attack.”

“We won!” on the contrary, the organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW, “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington”), which supported the class action of voters in the Colorado court, celebrated.

This decision is “not only historic and justified, but necessary to protect the future of democracy in our country,” said CREW president Noah Bookbinder in a statement.

“Mr. Trump acted with the specific intent to incite political violence and direct it to Capitol Hill, in order to prevent the ratification” of the election result, the victory of his opponent Joe Biden in November 2020, it ruled in the first court decision, on November 17, Judge Sarah Wallace.

On the contrary, it ruled that the 14th amendment of the Constitution, invoked by the applicants, was not applicable to the former president, while acknowledging that there are doubts about this.

The 14th amendment to the US Constitution was adopted in 1868; at the time, the Confederate supporters, the Southerners who were defeated in the civil war of secession (1861-1865), were targeted to exclude from public office those who had sworn to defend the Constitution, they committed a “mutiny”.

At SCOTUS

Donald Trump yesterday became the first contender for the presidency in American history to be judged by the judiciary as not having the right to run for office.

A lawyer for the Republican argued in the Colorado Supreme Court that the events at the Capitol were not serious enough to be called a riot or standoff, that the former president’s speech to supporters in Washington before the attack was protected by his right to free speech, which is constitutionally protected, and that the court had no jurisdiction to deny Mr. Trump – who has a huge lead in the Republican primary, according to polls – from running.

Carlos Samur, a dissenting member of the Colorado Supreme Court, argued in a lengthy opinion that the process was not a “fair” mechanism to determine whether Mr. Trump should be disqualified since he has not been convicted of treason by justice, consequently he is also denied the right to a fair trial for the events of January 6.

“Even if we’re convinced that a candidate has committed horrific acts in the past — even if he’s engaged in treason, I’d venture to say — due process must be followed before we’re in a position to rule that that person doesn’t have the right to get elected,” explained Judge Samour.

On the federal Supreme Court, conservative justices have a clear majority (6-3); three of its members were appointed by Donald Trump.