SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in Trump v. Anderson. The filing, led by West Virginia and Indiana, supports Donald J. Trump’s position that he was unlawfully removed from the ballot in Colorado by the state Supreme Court.
On December 19, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump was ineligible to appear on the ballot under section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The court stayed its mandate pending action by the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and scheduled oral argument for February 8.
In their brief, the coalition of attorneys general and state legislators argue that “Section 3 cannot be used to disqualify a person from holding office unless Congress acts,” that “without more direction from Congress, courts cannot say what constitutes ‘insurrection’ under Section 3,” and that “allowing state courts to apply Section 3 to Presidents without congressional action would damage our system of government.”
The States write, “Occasionally, a case comes along that threatens to upend our constitutional order. Perhaps a decision erases Congress’s role in making some essential decision. Or maybe a court has construed our Constitution in a way that endangers the President’s ability to perform some critical work. Or perhaps a decision invites chaos in our elections, undermining the ability of voters to pick those who lead them. Or maybe a case thrusts courts into places where they don’t belong. Any one of these outcomes – standing alone – would be unacceptable. This case presents not just one of those troubling outcomes, but all four.”
Joining Utah, West Virginia, and Indiana on this brief were the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming.
The Arizona Legislature and the legislative leadership of North Carolina also joined this brief in support of Petitioner.
