Supreme Court will decided Trump’s fate in 14th Amendment challenges | GARY COSBY JR.

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review a decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that removed Donald Trump from the ballot in that state due to a violation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Maine has joined Colorado in banishing Trump from the primary ballot and other states have challenges before their courts also questioning Trump’s eligibility to hold office.

Section 3 of the amendment says “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Former President Donald Trump speaks during the Alabama Republican Party Summer Dinner at the Renaissance Hotel and Conference Center in Montgomery Friday, August 4, 2023.

The Supreme Court, in taking this case, will very likely render a decision that either universally qualifies Trump to run for office or universally disqualifies him. The Supreme Court’s decision, one way or the other, will be greeted with massive dissent and will have a pronounced impact on the Nov. 5 presidential election.

During his term as president, Donald Trump appointed three of the nine justices. In any normal legal matter, a judge placed in a circumstance such as this, would very likely recuse himself or herself due to the obvious conflict of interest. One of the determining factors in this case will be whether the three Trump-appointed justices recuse themselves. If they do not, it is difficult to see how anything resembling a fair and balanced decision will be reached.

A heavily biased Supreme Court is disturbing. It is distributing no matter which way the court might be loaded, conservative or liberal. The Constitution is neither. It is a document that is supposed to establish how American government works and guarantee freedom for the American people. However, the document has always been interpreted by men and women who are biased. It could not be otherwise.

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The case itself must necessarily turn on whether Trump participated in insurrection or, and this is potentially the most telling point, gave aid and comfort to those who did. Many of his actions, or inactions on Jan. 6, 2021, appear to have violated this amendment, and he has not stopped giving aid and comfort to those who stormed the Capitol Building even after leaving office.

Since Trump did not himself storm the Capitol building, his attorneys could argue that he did not participate in insurrection. That is a great deal like Bill Clinton’s denial that he had sex with the intern. The defense is in the semantics, or the definition, rather than in the action itself. And it is likely the concept that Trump didn’t storm the building himself that lawyers will use to argue his case before the Supreme Court. They might make a case for him not participating, but it will be more than difficult to argue that he did not give aid and comfort to those who did.

The court’s decision will do one of two things. First, they could rule that Donald Trump can be removed from primary ballots. It is quite clear that Trump fomented the insurrection, fired up a mob, released it against the Capitol, and did nothing to stop what turned into an ugly, violent clash that claimed the lives of several people and endangered many others. Everyone in America saw what he did, heard his words, and saw his complacency toward the unfolding disaster, all of which is easily classifiable as violating the 14th Amendment.

Gary Cosby Jr.

If the justices do this, they will face enormous pressure from Trump’s following, a group of devotees who have shown not the least hesitation to threaten the lives of those who oppose their leader. The resume of this group, and it is by no means a complete list, includes an attempt to “arrest” the governor of Michigan, an attempt to force a caravan of Biden supporters off a highway, death threats sent to court officials and an attack on the U.S. Capitol building.

The justices could also rule that the former president is eligible to be on ballots in all 50 states. This is the path of least resistance and the path that requires the least courage. It will appease the Trump following and put the decision in the hands of voters. This is the most likely outcome, particularly if the three Trump-appointed justices do not recuse themselves. It is also the decision that will create the least public outcry.

The language in the 14th Amendment is plain. Trump’s behavior was obvious and continues to be obvious. The problem for the court and the problem for America in general is that Trump’s threats of retribution against those who oppose him pose a danger to the peace and stability of our nation if the court rules against his challenge.

Allowing each state to determine Trump’s fate would doom any chance he has to regain the White House. Since this situation is without precedent, whatever decision the Supreme Court makes will resonate throughout the future history of the United States.

Gary Cosby Jr. can be contacted at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Trump’s election fate to be decided by U.S. Supreme Court