Don't thwart democracy to save it
Judicial activists on the Colorado Supreme Court overreached in their 5-to-4 ruling removing former President Donald Trump from Colorado's 2024 ballot. While news of the decision excited many on the left, the ruling is the sort of anti-democratic decision
The court concluded that Trump participated in an insurrection against the United States on Jan. 6, 2021 and therefore was disqualified from the presidency under the Fourteenth Amendment.
That amendment, among other things, bars those who “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the” country from various federal offices.
“We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us,” the court majority wrote. “We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”
However, the majority goes on to concede that they “are also cognizant that we travel in uncharted territory, and that this case presents several issues of first impression.”
Without wading through the legal weeds, the fundamental error of the court majority is that Trump has yet to be convicted, or even charged, with the crime of insurrection. While the word could certainly fit his disgraceful conduct leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021, a legal determination of this demands due process. This is America, after all.
Echoing this very point was Justice Carlos Samour in his dissenting opinion: “I recognize the need to defend and protect our democracy against those who seek to undermine the peaceful transfer of power. And I embrace the judiciary's solemn role in upholding and applying the law. But that solemn role necessarily includes ensuring our courts afford everyone who comes before them (in criminal and civil proceedings alike) due process of law.”
That's right.
As Reason Magazine's Eric
“The best way for anti-Trump Americans to stop Trump is to beat him at the ballot box once again. These people tend to drone on, ad nauseum, about how much they love democracy and how everything they do is to save democracy. Their actions should match their words.”
Boehm notes, “there are other, far more democratic ways to prevent dangerous, unfit candidates from becoming president (like, say, by defeating them in open, fair elections)” than simply allowing judges to easily invoke the Fourteenth Amendment to force candidates off the ballot.
What the Colorado Supreme Court has done is give the former president yet another talking point to make his case that the supposedly crooked political establishment is out to get him — him, specifically. While it remains to be seen whether enough Americans actually want to go through another four years of President Trump, the court has inserted itself where it isn't needed.
The best way for antiTrump Americans to stop Trump is to beat him at the ballot box once again. These people tend to drone on, ad nauseum, about how much they love democracy and how everything they do is to save democracy. Their actions should match their words.