The 14th Amendment to the Constitution prohibits those who participated in the rebellion from holding public office.
Applicability to be determined for the first time since the Civil War
The U.S. Supreme Court announced on the 5th (local time) that it will decide whether former U.S. President Donald Trump, who attempted to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, is eligible to run for president this year, indicating that he will directly intervene in the presidential election.
The Supreme Court justices know that a decision must be made quickly because presidential primaries will be held across the country soon. The Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case in which the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump was incompetent because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The first trial is scheduled to be held early next month.
For the first time, the Supreme Court will examine the meaning and scope of application of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits those who “participate in insurrection” from holding public office. This provision, adopted immediately after the Civil War in 1868, has very few cases of application, and this is the first time that the Supreme Court has attempted to interpret it.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled last month with a vote of 4 in favor and 3 against that Trump cannot be a candidate in the Republican primary. This ruling is the first time the 14th Amendment to the Constitution has been applied to ban presidential candidates from voting.
In addition, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bello also decided that Trump, who participated in the Capitol riot, cannot be a candidate in the state’s primary election under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Both states suspended the ban until an appeal is filed.
Three of the nine Supreme Court judges were appointed by Trump while he was president. However, they also repeatedly ruled against Trump in relation to his trial related to the 2020 presidential election, hiding documents related to the Capitol riot, and submitting tax records to Congress.
Meanwhile, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh agreed with conservative rulings such as the ruling overturning the Supreme Court ruling 50 years ago that recognized artificial abortion as a constitutional right, expanding gun ownership rights, and abolishing preferential treatment for racial minorities in college admissions. did.
Some Democratic lawmakers requested that Justice Clarence Thomas, a conservative Supreme Court Justice, be excluded from participating in the trial on the grounds that his wife sympathized with Trump’s campaign to undermine the results of the presidential election. But it is unlikely that Judge Thomas will agree. In cases related to the 2020 presidential election, he withheld his participation in the trial only in the case of his clerk, John Eastman, and none of those questioning Trump’s qualifications to run has yet requested Judge Thomas’ trial be postponed.
Judge Gorsuch’s ruling while a federal judge in Colorado was cited in the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify Trump as a candidate. This ruling overturned Colorado’s decision that a naturalized American born in Guyana is constitutionally ineligible to run for president of the United States.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution consists of two sentences. It states that anyone who has sworn to uphold the Constitution but “participates in insurrection” cannot hold state or federal office. The provision has not been cited since the U.S. House of Representatives pardoned most Confederate members in 1872, and was cited for the first time this year in a lawsuit seeking to exclude Trump from the election.
Trump’s team asked the Supreme Court to overrule the Colorado Supreme Court ruling without a hearing. Trump’s lawyer argued, “The Colorado Supreme Court ruling violates the Constitution and could be used as a precedent to disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and tens of millions of voters nationwide.”
Other cases related to Trump’s eligibility to run have also been brought to the Supreme Court. Last month, the Supreme Court denied Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s request to intervene to expedite the trial of a case in which he was accused of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
[워싱턴=AP/뉴시스]
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.