Well, it came as no surprise this morning that the Supreme Court has struck down Colorado’s move to kick Trump off its ballot. The Court ruled unanimously that it was up to Congress to decide whether, if, or how the 14th Amendment applies to Trump. (Unfortunately, Congress has amply demonstrated its inability and unwillingness to accomplish anything at all.) Even yours truly figured Colorado probably couldn’t monkey with a national election.
We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But States have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency.
Nevertheless, Trump remains an insurrectionist according to Colorado courts, and SCOTUS didn’t rule on that.
So there you have it. Colorado, as a state, can’t do anything about enforcing the 14th Amendment. But at least we raised the issue and made some noise.
(It is frustrating to have states trying to enforce existing laws and getting overruled by the federal government which then does nothing to enforce those same laws … )
Yes, it’s what I expected. The joys and pain of federalism … sigh …
Haven’t seen many of those joys lately … 🙁
SCOTUS, the shame of the USA …
Trump’s the shame. This is his court. But at least this time I can’t argue with their decision.
He thanked them today
Not surprising. He’s counting on them to delay everything as much as possible until after the election.
yep.
Yes, sigh.
(Hey, what’s with Denver firing/”reducing to 0 hours” employees – yet are going to hire immigrants for government jobs? geeesch what a mess. People need to work, to help pay for care, but imagine the shunned employees are irritated…)
We are in backwards world!
I even wrote a letter to a local tv station about the “0 hours” thing. The mayor claims he’s trying to get more federal funds to help pay for taking care of the migrants (Denver is a “sanctuary city”), and yet he hides the fact (“0 hours” instead of “layoffs”) that Denver is running out of money to pay city employees. He’s also been kicking locals out of their motel housing to make room for the new migrants. Then he kicks them out in a few weeks to make room for other migrants — all while bragging about all the homeless people he’s gotten off the streets. He’s not my mayor; I’m in Thornton, in a neighboring county. But it’s infuriating nonetheless.
It’s what was expected, but still infuriating. “States’ rights” is played however it works best for the conservative agenda. They’re letting trump get away with one of the worst presidential crimes in history, denying the votes of 81 million people with his egregious lies.
Declaring that only Congress can decide 14th Amendment issues puts insurrection charges beyond the reach of state courts. And this Congress is already in Trump’s pocket. What really disturbs me is that so many voters continue to back him. Whether they support his criminality or are too ignorant to understand it, it’s frightening.
I understand the insurrectionist ruling and its reasoning, but I fear the political bent of the current court, especially the three Trump appointees. Thomas is the worst. The integrity of the justice system is hanging by a thread.
Aside from the whole Trump insurrection issue, I’m most upset about Trump’s three appointees and what they’ve done regarding women’s rights (not to mention their prevarication during their confirmations). Thomas is just a lost cause. And to think they all have lifetime appointments to the highest court in the land. Unnerving to say the least. And all we can do is vote …