Trump's Trials - Supreme Court rules Trump can remain on the ballot

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

For this episode of Trump's Trials, we hear from NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg. The Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump can remain on the ballot in Colorado and other states. The justices concluded the constitution does not allow states to use the 14th amendment to bar presidential candidates from the ballot. Topics include: - Details on the majority opinion - Split among the Justices - Possibility of congressional enforcement Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials.Email the show at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From NPR, it's Trump's Trials. I'm Scott Detrow. We love Trump! This is a persecution. He actually just stormed out of the courtroom. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. A week after giving former President Donald Trump a big win in his effort to delay his federal election interference case, the U.S. Supreme Court is again siding with the likely GOP presidential nominee. The court has issued a ruling in the case examining whether or not Colorado courts

have the power to kick Trump off the ballot for engaging in insurrection. That's language the Constitution's 14th Amendment says can bar people from holding federal office. But in today's ruling, a broad majority of the court sided with Trump. Stick with us to hear our coverage of the ruling and what it means for the election. age, cellular function declines, which may impact changes in energy and strength. Solgar Cellular Nutrition is a holistic collection of cellular nutrients formulated to help fight cellular decline and promote cell health. Learn more at cellularnutrition.solgar.com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Welcome back to Trump's Trials. I'm going to turn things over now to my co-host at All Things Considered, Mayor Louise Kelly, as well as NPR's legal affairs correspondent, Nina Totenberg. The U.S. Supreme Court today restored Donald Trump to the ballot in several states. The states, led by Colorado, had sought to disqualify him on grounds that he had participated in an insurrection at the Capitol in 2020. With time running out, one day before Super Tuesday, the court issued its opinion without even taking the bench. And Paralegal Affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports. By a unanimous vote, the court rejected the state's claim that under a post-Civil War constitutional

provision, states could disqualify Trump and other candidates for federal office if, in the words of the 14th Amendment, they have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States. The court said that states could disqualify candidates for state office, but not for federal office. On that, all nine justices agreed. But four of the nine, including Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett, said that the five-justice majority had gone way too far in deciding more than necessary. Trump was delighted with the outcome. In a rambling press conference, he thanked the Supreme Court majority for its, quote, brilliance, accused special counsel Jack Smith of being a, quote, deranged Trump hater, and without any evidence, accused President Biden of coordinating all the legal cases against him in four different federal and state courts.

President Biden, fight your fight yourself. Don't use prosecutors and judges to go after your opponent. yourself. Don't use prosecutors and judges to go after your opponent. Today's unsigned opinion, almost certainly written by Chief Justice Roberts, said that if the states were allowed to disqualify presidential candidates, the result could well be that a single candidate would be declared ineligible in some states, but not in others, leading to a patchwork of eligibility across the country. Nothing in the Constitution requires that we endure such chaos, the court said. All nine justices agreed with that bottom line, but the five-justice majority went on to say that only Congress can enforce the insurrection disqualification provision of the 14th Amendment,

and it imposed severe limits on what kind of a law Congress could pass that would meet constitutional muster. They tightened it down so that Congress will never even be able to pass implementing legislation. That's former federal judge Michael Luttig, a conservative who supported the idea of Trump's ineligibility. The decision today was breathtaking, and it's a decision that in any previous time would be characterized as quite activist. But Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who'd been skeptical of the suit, said that the court got at least the bottom line right. What we as state officials need is finality and certainty.

And so what I was looking for and what I got out of this is that we can move forward with the operations of running clean, fair elections in our states. The split on the court today was between the justices in the majority, who sought to prevent most future challenges to alleged insurrectionists on the ballot, and the four justices who wanted to leave that question open. Writing for the court's three liberals, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that under the guise of providing a more complete explanation, the majority, quote, attempts to insulate all alleged insurrectionists from future challenges to their holding federal

office. Justice Barrett also did not sign on to much of the majority opinion, but she didn't join the liberals' concurrence. She stressed that, quote, As for Trump, he ended his press conference today with a plug for granting presidents lifetime immunity. That's the next Trump case scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court in April. Presidents have to be given total immunity, he said. If they're not, it's not what the founders wanted. Thanks for listening to Trump's Trials from NPR. Keep an eye out for more episodes like this

whenever big news happens. And we'll be back later this week with our Rake of a Show on Saturday. I'm Scott Detrow. Support for NPR and the following message come from SAP Concur, a leading brand for integrated travel expense and invoice management solutions come from SAP Concur, a leading brand for integrated travel expense and invoice management solutions. With SAP Concur solutions, you'll be ready to take on whatever the market throws at you next. Learn more at Concur.com. This is my voice. I can tell you a lot about me, and I'm not changing it for anyone. In NPR's Black

Stories, Black Truths, you'll find a collection of NPR episodes centered on Black experiences. Search NPR Black Stories, Black Truths, wherever you get your podcasts. The past is shrouded in mystery. To understand it, you have to get up close. Something happened to our collective psyche after the atom bomb. On NPR's ThruLine, we reopen stories from the past to find clues to the present. Find ThruLine wherever you get your podcasts.