XPost: alt.politics.elections, alt.politics.republicans, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics
A Denver District Court judge has issued a ruling that former President
Donald Trump can appear on the Colorado primary ballot. The decision came
down just before 5 p.m. Friday. At issue was whether he was barred from
the ballot by a provision of the U.S. Constitution that forbids those who "engaged in insurrection" from holding office.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold released this statement shortly
after the ruling, "The Court determined that Donald Trump is eligible to
be placed on the Colorado ballot in the March Presidential Primary. This decision may be appealed. As Secretary of State, I will always ensure that every voter can make their voice heard in free and fair elections."
Advocates this year have been trying to remove Trump from the ballot in Colorado and other states under Section Three of the 14th Amendment, which
bars from office those who swore an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution
and then "engaged in insurrection" against it. The measure has only been
used a handful of times since the period after the Civil War.
These are the assholes.
Petitioners: NORMA ANDERSON, MICHELLE PRIOLA,CLAUDINE CMARADA, KRISTA
KAFER, KATHI WRIGHT, and CHRISTOPHER CASTILIAN
https://www.scribd.com/document/685299158/11-17-2023-Final- Order#download&from_embed
In her decision, Wallace said she found that Trump did in fact "engage in insurrection" on Jan. 6 and rejected his attorneys' arguments that he was simply engaging in free speech. Normally, that would be enough to
disqualify him under Section 3, but she said she couldn't do so for a presidential candidate.
Section 3 does not specifically refer to the presidency, as it does
members of the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. Instead, the
clause refers to "elector of President and Vice President," along with
civil and military offices.
"Part of the Court's decision is its reluctance to embrace an
interpretation which would disqualify a presidential candidate without a
clear, unmistakable indication that such is the intent of Section Three,"
the judge wrote.
Closing arguments in the lawsuit, which was filed by the left-leaning
group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, wrapped up on Wednesday. Sean Grimsley, an attorney for the petitioners, argued that
Trump engaged in an insurrection by inciting a violent mob to attack the
U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to try to stop the peaceful transfer of power. He
says that makes him ineligible to hold office under the 14th Amendment.
Trump attorney Scott Gessler says there's no evidence that Trump intended
to incite violence and violence, he says, doesn't equal an insurrection.
Gessler said the lawsuit amounts to election interference and is based
entirely on the Jan. 6 Committee's report which he says is completely one- sided.
"The petitioners are asking this court to do something that's never been
done in the history of the United States," Gessler said. "The evidence
doesn't come close to allowing the court to do it."
The trial, which ended two weeks ago, included testimony from D.C. riot
police, rallygoers, constitutional experts, and two members of Congress.
The Colorado plaintiffs' attorney, Sean Grimsley, told the judge during Wednesday's hearing that the evidence was clear.
"We are here because, for the first time in our nation's history, the
president of the United States engaged in an insurrection," he said,
summing up their case. "Now he wants to be president again. The
Constitution does not allow that."
If they can keep Trump off the primary ballot in enough states, advocates
hope to keep him from getting the needed delegates to secure the
Republican presidential nomination.
Regardless of the judge's decision, the case is all but certain to be
appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Similar lawsuits challenging Trump's ballot eligibility under the 14th Amendment have failed recently in Michigan and Minnesota. The Minnesota
Supreme Court dodged the question of whether the provision applies to
Trump, who is so far dominating the Republican presidential primary. It dismissed a lawsuit to toss him off that state's primary ballot by saying
that political parties can allow whomever they want to qualify for
primaries. The court left the door open for a general election challenge
if Trump becomes the GOP nominee. A Michigan judge dismissed another
lawsuit seeking to bounce Trump from that state's primary ballot with a
more sweeping ruling. He said whether the provision applies to the former president is a "political question" to be settled by Congress, not judges.
The liberal group that filed the Michigan case, Free Speech For People,
said it plans to appeal the decision.
The Trump campaign has called the lawsuits "election interference" and an "anti-democratic" attempt to stop voters from having the choice they want
next November.
https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/judge-rule-donald-trump-eligible- colorado-primary-ballot-lawsuit-trial/
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)