DENVER — Oral arguments are set to for Wednesday afternoon before the Colorado Supreme Court over whether former President Donald Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol prevents him from running for office again in the state under a constitutional ban on those who “engaged in insurrection.”
A district court judge in Denver last month ruled that while Trump engaged in insurrection by inciting the violent attack, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment doesn’t apply to the office of president so he can remain on the ballot. The liberal group that sued on behalf of six Republican or unaffiliated voters appealed the ruling to the state’s high court.
Trump also appealed a different part of the ruling — the judge’s finding of his culpability in the Capitol attack — and whether a state court judge can legally interpret the meaning of the clause’s somewhat obscure two sentences. The provision was added to the Constitution to keep former Confederates from returning to their government offices after the Civil War.
Dozens of lawsuits citing the provision to keep Trump from running again for president have been filed across the country this year. None have succeeded, but the Colorado case is seen by legal experts as among the most significant.
It came closest to achieving its goal as District Court Judge Sarah B. Wallace said Trump’s actions met the definition of engaging in an insurrection. She rejected the argument by Trump’s attorneys that his rallying his supporters to the Capitol was simply an exercise in free speech.
But the judge also found that she was not able to disqualify Trump from the ballot under Section 3. While the clause bars anyone who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from the U.S. House and Senate, it does not specifically refer to the presidency,. Instead, the reference is 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…
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