CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is co-leading an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal from Colorado decision that kept former President Donald Trump off the ballot for that state’s Presidential Primary Elections.
The coalition of 27 states claims the the Fourteenth Amendment “anticipates that Congress will decide whether a particular person is qualified to hold office under Section 3 (or at least determine the process for making that decision). The structure of the Constitution, relevant history, and authority from this court confirm as much.”
The coalition says the court should grant the petition to prevent state courts from usurping Congress’s exclusive power.
“The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to keep President Trump, the frontrunner in the GOP primaries, off the ballot is flawed — that determination lies with Congress and Congress alone,” Morrisey said. “We need to protect the integrity of our elections, and actions like this undermine the right of the citizens to choose who they want to represent them in every level of government.”
The Colorado lawsuit was filed by six voters who say Trump is disqualified from office under an insurrection clause in the 14th Amendment because of his alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021, incident at the U.S. Capitol.
A district judge ruled the insurrection clause does not apply to the presidency and allowed Trump to be on the ballot, but the Colorado Supreme Court later issued a ruling barring Trump from the GOP primary ballot under the 14th Amendment.
“This case never should’ve been brought,” Morrisey said.
The coalition brief expands on that notion.
“In deciding that former President Trump engaged in insurrection, the Colorado court fashioned a definition of ‘insurrection’ that is standardless and vague,” the brief states. “The best available evidence suggests that insurrection equates with rebellion — a more demanding standard than the Colorado court settled on. But what constitutes insurrection is not a question courts should answer at all.”
The AGs from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming along with the Arizona Legislature joined the West Virginia- and Indiana-led brief.
U.S. Supreme Court of Appeals case number 23-719
