In a unanimous decision Monday morning, the Supreme Court tossed out a Colorado court decision that barred Donald Trump from appearing on the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot. The lower court had based its decision on a provision in the 14th Amendment related to people who engage in insurrection.
In their 9-0 ruling, the Supremes concluded that “states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the Presidency.”
The decision ensures that no other state will be able to bar Trump from the presidential ballot by invoking the insurrection clause in the Constitution.
After Colorado removed Trump from the ballot, two other states, Maine and Illinois, did the same.
The decision in Trump’s favor was not a surprise, as even the Court’s liberal justices appeared skeptical of the Colorado Supreme Court’s rationale for disqualifying Trump during oral arguments on February 8.
“I think that the question that you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States,” Justice Elena Kagan said during the hearing.
The Supreme Court’s ruling comes a day before Super Tuesday, when sixteen states, including Colorado, will hold primary elections.
On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump called the decision “a big win for America.”
Harmeet Dhillon, the chief litigator for the Trump campaign, said she was “thrilled” with the decision.
“It was only 7 am here but my husband and I were doing Trump victory dances in the kitchen this morning,” she said in post on X. “You don’t get to go to the Supreme Court with a cert. petition like this one very often in a career.”
It was only 7 am here but my husband and I were doing Trump victory dances in the kitchen this morning. You don’t get to go to the Supreme Court with a cert.
petition like this one very often in a career. So thrilled 😁— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) March 4, 2024
Dhillon Law worked on the case with counsels David Warrington, Scott Gessler, and Jonathan Mitchell.
Following the decision, Dhillon Law put out the statement below:
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who submitted briefs in the case, posted on X that the decision was “a huge win for the rule of law.”
Legal experts are calling the court’s decision a total humiliation of the lower court.
“This is nothing short of a total judicial humiliation,” said Canadian lawyer and legal pundit Viva Frei on X. “The Colorado Supreme Court is a disgrace.
Any lawyer who promoted this idiotic theory is a disgrace. Maine’s secretary of state is a disgrace. Total judicial destruction.”
This is nothing short of a total judicial humiliation.
The Colorado Supreme Court is a disgrace.
Any lawyer who promoted this idiotic theory is a disgrace.
Maine’s secretary of state is a disgrace.
Total judicial destruction. pic.twitter.com/lK46hfHDR7
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) March 4, 2024
Ron Coleman, a lawyer with Dhillon Law, said it was “gratifying to witness the unanimous bench slap delivered to all the wise-ass academic, corporate media and Twitter constitutional law experts who got this so, so wrong.”
PER CURIAM, bitches.
It's certainly gratifying that @dhillonlaw client Donald Trump won the Colorado case before the Supreme Court. (I was not part of the superb SCOTUS advocacy, but I was very involved in DJT's challenge to Colorado's actions which SCOTUS upheld.)
HAVING SAID… pic.twitter.com/xCi5ZtWlca
— Ron Coleman (@RonColeman) March 4, 2024
“The Court showed a divided nation that we remain bound by shared constitutional values,” wrote George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s running for president as an Independent, also praised the decision. “This is the correct outcome. I want to win a fair election — not one in which my competitors are removed through legal maneuvers,” Kennedy said on X.
Update:
Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago Monday to discuss the court ruling:
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