Trump v. Anderson: Difference between revisions
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| full name = Norma Anderson, Michelle Priola, Claudine Cmarada, Krista Kafer, Kathi Wright, and Christopher Castilian v. Jena Griswold |
| full name = [[Norma Anderson]], Michelle Priola, Claudine Cmarada, Krista Kafer, Kathi Wright, and Christopher Castilian v. Jena Griswold |
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| citations = 2023CV32577 |
| citations = 2023CV32577 |
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| PerCuriam = yes |
| PerCuriam = yes |
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Revision as of 05:40, 21 December 2023
| Anderson v. Griswold | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
| Full case name | Norma Anderson, Michelle Priola, Claudine Cmarada, Krista Kafer, Kathi Wright, and Christopher Castilian v. Jena Griswold |
| Citation | 2023CV32577 |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Brian Boatright, Chief Justice; Monica Márquez, William W. Hood III, Richard L. Gabriel, Melissa Hart, Carlos Samour, Maria Berkenkotter |
| Case opinions | |
| Per curiam | |
| Dissent | Boatright |
| Dissent | Samour |
| Dissent | Berkenkotter |
| January 6 United States Capitol attack |
|---|
| Timeline • Planning |
| Background |
| Participants |
| Aftermath |
Norma Anderson, et al. v. Jena Griswold is a Colorado Supreme Court case in which the court rejected the presidential eligibility of Donald Trump, the former president of the United States and a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, on the basis of his involvement in the January 6 Capitol attack. The court held that Trump's actions before and during the attack constituted engaging in insurrection; the Fourteenth Amendment disqualifies presidential candidates who have engaged in insurrection against the United States. The Colorado Supreme Court's ruling in Anderson v. Griswold is the first time that a presidential candidate has been disqualified from office in a state on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment, though it is currently stayed until January 4, or until the United States Supreme Court rules.
Background
January 6 Capitol attack
On December 19, 2020, six weeks following his election loss, Trump urged his followers on Twitter to protest in Washington, D.C., on January 6, the day Congress was set to certify the results of the election, writing, "Be there, will be wild!" Over the course of the following weeks, Trump would repeat the January 6 date. Militant organizations and groups affiliated with the conspiracy theory QAnon formulated logistical plans to gather at the United States Capitol. Trump continued to repeat false claims about the election leading up to January 6, including Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona.[1] On the morning of January 6, Trump gave a speech in the Ellipse, an elliptical park near the White House, and encouraged his followers to walk down to Pennsylvania Avenue to incite within Republicans the "kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country". Provoked by Trump, the mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.[2]
Fourteenth Amendment disqualification theory
Section 3. No person shall ... hold any office, civil or military, under the United States... who, having previously taken an oath... as an officer of the United States ...shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
In August 2023, conservative legal scholars and Federalist Society members William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen, in an article published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, posed that Trump is ineligible to be president.[3] Baude and Paulsen argue that Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment—a section that prevents individuals from holding office who, having "previously taken an oath [...] to support the Constitution of the United States", have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States—applies to Trump through his fraudulent electors plot and "specific encouragement" of January 6, including refusing to call in the National Guard, supported by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack and his second federal indictment. According to Baude and Paulsen, states are given legal obligation and precedent to remove Trump from primary ballots under Article Two of the Constitution, which establishes presidential eligibility requirements. Baude and Paulsen concede, however, that the legal precedent In re Griffin (1869) argues for a pragmatic consequentialist interpretation of Section Three.[4] In March 2022, a district judge ruled that then-representative Madison Cawthorn could not be considered an insurrectionist.[5] In a draft paper, law professors Josh Blackman and Seth Barrett Tillman argued against the basis for a Fourteenth Amendment disqualification against Trump.[6]
District court
On September 6, 2023, four Republican voters and two Unaffiliated voters in Colorado, joined by the watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), filed a lawsuit in the District Court for the District of Colorado invoking the Fourteenth Amendment disqualification theory. The lawsuit asks for the court to prevent Trump from appearing on the state's Republican presidential primary, naming Colorado secretary of state Jena Griswold;[7] Trump and the Colorado Republican State Central Committee are named as intervenors.[8]
The trial began on October 30.[9] Judge Sarah B. Wallace refused a request from Trump's lawyers to dismiss the case.[10] On November 17, Wallace ruled that Griswold must keep Trump on the ballot but stated that Trump engaged in insurrection by standard of preponderance of the evidence,[11] the first time a judge has explicitly stated Trump incited the January 6 Capitol attack,[12] with regards to his prior rhetoric and inaction during the attack.[13] Wallace stated that Trump was not an officer of the United States with sparse "direct evidence" suggesting the presidency is included as part of the functionary.[14]
Colorado Supreme Court
The plaintiffs appealed on November 20.[15] The Colorado Supreme Court agreed to take up Anderson v. Griswold on November 21.[16] On December 19, the Court ruled in a 4-3 per curiam decision[17] that Trump is disqualified from the primary ballot, reversing the district court's ruling.[18] In its decision, the Colorado Supreme Court noted that not all other states have standards to pre-qualify candidates for primary elections, citing the primary election framework in Michigan; election law in Michigan does not include the term "qualified candidate", Michigan courts cannot explicitly assess the qualifications of a candidate, and the Michigan secretary of state's responsibilities are limited in primary elections. Colorado's election code, by contrast, provides the state with greater dominion over the removal of a candidate.[19] Chief justice Brian Boatright and justices Carlos Samour and Maria Berkenkotter offered dissenting opinions.[20]
The court's ruling is stayed until January 4, 2024, the day before Colorado's deadline to print primary ballots.[21] The Trump campaign stated it would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court of the United States.[22]
Responses
Donald Trump
Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung stated that the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling eliminated the "rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice".[23] The Trump campaign used the ruling to fundraise, accusing Democrats of attempting to "amass total control over America by rigging the election".[24] Trump did not mention the ruling during a speech hours later in Waterloo, Iowa.[25]
Republican response
Presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy,[26] Nikki Haley,[27] and Ron DeSantis criticized the decision.[28] Chris Christie, an ardent critic of Trump, stated that Trump should be "prevented from being president of the United States by the voters".[29] Candidate Asa Hutchinson stated that the ruling would "haunt his candidacy"; Hutchinson had drawn attention to the Fourteenth Amendment disqualification theory during the first Republican debate.[30]
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson described the decision as a "thinly veiled partisan attack".[31] Senator Thom Tillis said he intends to introduce legislation withholding election administration federal funds to states implementing the Fourteenth Amendment disqualification theory.[32] Representative Lauren Boebert wrote that the decision was "designed to suppress the vote and voices of hundreds of thousands of Coloradans".[33]
Vivek Ramaswamy vowed to withdraw from the ballot in protest.[34] The Colorado Republican Party tweeted that it would "withdraw" from the primary and instead use a pure caucus system if the ruling stands.[35]
Democratic response
President Joe Biden stated, in response to the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling, that there was "no question" of Trump supporting an insurrection.[36] Representative Jason Crow lauded the decision.[37] Senator Chris Coons praised the decision, saying "We should all be encouraged by any action that makes it less likely that [Trump] will return to the presidency."[38][better source needed]
International response
Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, wrote that the United States has "lost its ability to lecture any other country about 'democracy'".[39]
References
Citations
- ^ United States Department of Justice 2023, p. 8-9.
- ^ Barry, Dan; Frenkel, Sheera (January 6, 2021). "'Be There. Will Be Wild!': Trump All but Circled the Date". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Liptak, Adam (August 10, 2023). "Conservative Case Emerges to Disqualify Trump for Role on Jan. 6". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Beauchamp, Zack (August 11, 2023). "The constitutional case that Donald Trump is already banned from being president". Vox. Archived from the original on August 11, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Weisman, Jonathan (March 4, 2023). "Judge Blocks Effort to Disqualify Cawthorn from Ballot as 'Insurrectionist'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 10, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Astor, Maggie. "What is the 14th Amendment, and what does it say?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Astor, Maggie (September 6, 2023). "Colorado Lawsuit Seeks to Keep Trump Off Ballots Under 14th Amendment". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 14, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Colorado Supreme Court 2023, p. 1.
- ^ Astor, Maggie (October 30, 2023). "Colorado Trial Considers Whether the 14th Amendment Disqualifies Trump". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Astor, Maggie (November 1, 2023). "Trump 14th Amendment Disqualification Trial Can Continue, Judge Rules". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Colorado Supreme Court 2023, p. 60.
- ^ Blake, Aaron (November 20, 2023). "A judge says Trump incited insurrection. Other judges have come close". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Astor, Maggie (November 17, 2023). "Colorado Judge Keeps Trump on Ballot but Finds He 'Engaged in Insurrection'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Montellaro, Zach; Orden, Erica; Cheney, Kyle (November 17, 2023). "Colorado judge rules Trump 'engaged in an insurrection' — but can still run for president". Politico. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Riccardi, Nicholas (November 21, 2023). "Colorado Supreme Court will hear appeal of ruling that Trump can stay on ballot despite insurrection". Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 24, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Cameron, Chris (November 21, 2023). "Colorado Supreme Court Agrees to Take Up Trump's 14th Amendment Case". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Colorado Supreme Court 2023, p. 6.
- ^ Astor, Maggie (December 19, 2023). "Trump Is Disqualified From the 2024 Ballot, Colorado Supreme Court Rules". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Colorado Supreme Courts 2023.
- ^ Riccardi, Nicholas (December 19, 2023). "Donald Trump banned from Colorado ballot in historic ruling by state's Supreme Court". Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ "Donald Trump banned from Colorado ballot in historic ruling by state's Supreme Court". Associated Press. December 19, 2023. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ Samuels, Brett (December 19, 2023). "Trump campaign vows to appeal Colorado's 14th Amendment case: 'Completely flawed decision'". The Hill. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael (December 19, 2023). "In a statement, Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, accused the Colorado Supreme Court of effectively "eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice."". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael (December 19, 2023). "The Trump campaign is already fund-raising off the Colorado decision". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael (December 19, 2023). "Trump did not explicitly mention the Colorado Supreme Court decision in his speech in Waterloo, Iowa, which just wrapped up". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael (December 19, 2023). "Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running against Trump, called the decision an "attack on democracy" in a statement on social media". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Ulloa, Jazmine (December 19, 2023). "Nikki Haley, campaigning in Agency, Iowa, told reporters that she does not believe Donald J. Trump should be president but that she plans "to beat him fair and square."". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Nehamas, Nicholas (December 19, 2023). "After dodging reporters at his event in Iowa, Ron DeSantis has now responded to the Trump ruling with a post on X." The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Huynh, Anjali (December 19, 2023). "Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey who has run an explicitly anti-Trump campaign, said at a town hall in Bedford, N.H., that he did not believe Trump should be "prevented" from being president by a court". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael (December 19, 2023). "Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas and another Republican presidential candidate, said that the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling that Trump supported insurrection would "haunt his candidacy."". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Corasaniti, Nick (December 19, 2023). "Speaker Mike Johnson issued a swift statement on Tuesday night, calling the ruling "a thinly veiled partisan attack" and noting that Trump is the "leader in every poll of the Republican primary."". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Cameron, Chris (December 19, 2023). "Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, said he would introduce legislation that would withhold federal funds for election administration to states "misusing the Fourteenth Amendment for political purposes."". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas (December 19, 2023). "Representative Lauren Boebert, the outspoken Republican congresswoman who represents a wide swath of western and southern Colorado, ripped into the court's decision, saying in a statement that the justices had made a political decision that was "designed to suppress the vote and voices of hundreds of thousands of Coloradans."". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Ross, Kendall; Murray, Isabella; Ibssa, Lalee; Kim, Soo Rin (December 20, 2023). "Ramaswamy pledges to withdraw from Colorado GOP primary in solidarity with Trump". ABC News. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
- ^ Fortinsky, Sarah (December 20, 2023). "Colorado GOP threatens to shift to caucus system over Trump ruling". The Hill. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ Samuels, Brett (December 19, 2023). "Biden: 'No question' Trump supported insurrection in light of Colorado ruling". The Hill. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
- ^ Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas (December 19, 2023). "Representative Jason Crow, a Democrat whose district includes eastern and southern suburbs of Denver, wrote online that the state's supreme court got the case right". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Rupar, Aaron [@atrupar] (December 20, 2023). "Sen. Chris Coons on Colorado Supreme Court barring Trump from the primary ballot: "I think it is a plain reading of the text of the 14th Amendment...there was a finding by the court in Colorado, looking at the evidence, that former President Trump participated in an insurrection"" (Tweet). Retrieved December 20, 2023 – via Twitter.
- ^ Epstein, Reid (December 19, 2023). "The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, who has cracked down on civil liberties and shown authoritarian tendencies, denounced the Colorado ruling". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
Works cited
- "United States of America v. Donald J. Trump" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. August 1, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023 – via The Washington Post.