Trump v. Anderson
Issues
Was the Colorado Supreme Court justified in excluding former President Donald Trump from Colorado’s 2024 presidential primary ballot on the basis of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, a trial court’s finding that President Trump engaged in insurrection, and the Colorado Election Code?
This case asks the Supreme Court to clarify the ambit and enforceability of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, also known as the Disqualification Clause, which states that “[n]o person shall. . . hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, who, having previously taken an oath. . . as an officer of the United States . . . to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same.” Former President Donald Trump contends that he is not subject to Section Three disqualification because he has not served as a qualifying oath–taking “officer of the United States”; because his actions on January 6th, 2021 were protected speech, not insurrection; and because the Colorado Supreme Court's interpretation of Section Three was legally incorrect. A group of Colorado electors and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold respond that the President is an “officer of the United States” such that Section Three applies to Trump; that Trump engaged in insurrection on January 6th, 2021 and does not qualify for First Amendment protection in that regard; and that the Colorado Supreme Court properly applied Section Three. This case has significant implications for democratic norms and institutions, parties’ and voters’ interests in elections, and the bounds of political activity.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether the Colorado Supreme Court erred in ordering former President Donald Trump excluded from the 2024 presidential primary ballot.
On the morning of January 6th, 2021, the day that the United States Congress was scheduled to certify Joseph Biden’s election as the forty-sixth President of the United States, Petitioner Donald Trump held a rally at the Ellipse in Washington D.C. Anderson v. Griswold at 9.
The authors would like to thank Professor Sheri Lynn Johnson for her guidance and insights into this case.
Additional Resources
- Jennifer K. Elsea, The Insurrection Bar to Office: Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, Congressional Research Service (September 7, 2022).
- Scott Bomboy, The Last Insurrection Case Considered by Congress, National Constitution Center, (January 26, 2024).
- William Baude & Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Sweep and Force of Section Three, Social Science Research Network (September 19, 2023).
- Josh Blackman & Seth Barrett Tillman, Sweeping and Forcing the President into Section 3, Social Science Research Network (December 26, 2023).
- Ian Millhiser, The Supreme Court Arguments for (and against) removing Trump from the Ballot, Explained, Vox (January 5, 2024).