MADISONVILLE, La. – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Federal Courts, and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Donald J. Trump v. Norma Anderson. The amicus brief outlines the legal support for former President Trump to be restored to the ballot in Colorado.
“Colorado’s Supreme Court has mis-stepped and overstepped. Its ruling reeks of politics and bad faith. Colorado’s court misinterprets the Fourteenth Amendment in an attempt to seize agency from voters. The U.S. Supreme Court must protect our Constitution by correcting Colorado’s move to disenfranchise voters who want to cast their ballots in support of former President Trump,” said Kennedy.
“The radical left consistently does what they claim their opponents are doing. While President Biden and his allies claim they are defending democracy, their supporters are working to undermine democracy by banning Biden’s likely general election opponent from appearing on the ballot. The American people see through this, and I’m confident the Supreme Court will as well. I’m proud to work with Leader Scalise and our fellow legislators to defend the Constitution’s separation of powers, and the ability of the American people to decide who their next president will be,” said Cruz.
“President Biden has based his reelection effort on the notion that he is safeguarding democracy, but he and his radical allies are attempting to undermine the central component of the democratic process – the people’s power to choose their leaders through elections. Not only does the Colorado Supreme Court have no authority to remove President Trump from the ballot in the 2024 presidential election, but the broad and ill-defined justifications they use can easily be abused in the future to block political opponents from assuming office. By taking away people’s choice, the Colorado Supreme Court is setting a dangerous precedent and subverting the will of the American people. I’m proud to lead this amicus effort with Senator Cruz to stand up for American voters and our Constitution, and I urge the Supreme Court to thoughtfully consider our arguments and reverse this disastrous decision,” said Scalise.
The amicus brief highlights several legal errors in the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision. Those errors include the court’s failure to respect Congress’s unique authority to implement Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. They also include the fact that the plain language of Section 3 does not apply to the president. Finally, the amicus brief explains how politicians and activists could weaponize the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to attack their political opponents for any number of activities.
The amicus brief is available here.
