The decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to bar former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot was made entirely by Democrats — scandal-plagued Democrats, to be exact.

In a decision Tuesday, four of the court’s justices — Justices Richard L. Gabriel, Melissa Hart, Monica Márquez and William W. Hood III — voted to bar Trump from the ballot because, they said, Trump had “engaged in” a so-called insurrection on Jan. 6th, 2021.

All four justices are reportedly longtime Democrats, some with scandals on their belt.

Justice Richard L. Gabriel

According to the Daily Mail, Gabriel is a Yale University graduate who later got his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and eventually made it onto the Colorado Supreme Court in 2015.

His tenure has been marked by some scandal: “In 2021, The Denver Post reported that there had been harassment accusations against Gabriel by a female law clerk. It later emerged in a report by an external body that was hired to investigate allegations of harassment and gender discrimination that the claim was unfounded,” the Daily Mail notes.

Justice Melissa Hart

Appointed to the court in 2017, Hart is a former University of Colorado Law School professor whose career has also been marred with controversy.

“Hart, who grew up in Denver and graduated from Harvard Law School, had previously been implicated in a discrimination lawsuit filed by a black job applicant at the Supreme Court,” the Daily Mail notes.

“Michele Brown had accused Hart and other judges of engaging in racial and age discrimination when they declined to hire her as a rules attorney. A federal judge later threw the case out after finding no indication of discrimination from the state’s judicial branch,” according to the outlet.

Justice Monica Márquez

Appointed as the first Latina and first openly gay person to serve on the court, Márquez earned her law degree from Yale Law School. She also previously served as the Assistant Solicitor General and as Assistant Attorney General in both the Public Officials Unit and the Criminal Appellate Section.

Justice William W. Hood III

Hood III was sworn in January of 2014 by then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.

“Hood has consistently demonstrated an ability to fairly apply the law while administering justice. His breadth of experience on both sides of the courtroom is invaluable to informed decisions,” the governor said when he was sworn in.

The four justices’ ruling reportedly relied on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

“Section 3 of the 14th amendment, also referred to as the insurrection clause, bars anyone from Congress, the military, and federal and state offices who once took an oath to uphold the constitution but then ‘engaged’ in ‘insurrection or rebellion’ against it,” according to The Guardian.

“Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment helped ensure civil rights for formerly enslaved people, but also was intended to prevent former Confederate officials from regaining power as members of Congress and taking over the government they had just rebelled against,” the paper notes.

This decision will be laughed out of the US Supreme Court. In the Colorado Supreme Court, all seven judges are Democrat appointees, and even the Chief Justice voted with the minority in this 4-3 decision. https://t.co/ViEfcB7zkX

— Rep. Andy Harris, MD (@RepAndyHarrisMD) December 20, 2023

The decision has prompted massive concern, including from legal scholars like Jonathan Turley.

Appearing on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” Turley characterized the decision as “very, very dangerous.”

“I mean, this country is a powder keg, and this court is just throwing matches at it. And I think that it’s a real mistake. But I think that they’re wrong on the law,” he added.

He also expressed disagreement over the court’s perception of the Jan. 6th riot.

“You know, January 6 was many things, most of it not good. In my view, it was not an insurrection. It was a riot. That doesn’t mean that the people responsible for that day shouldn’t be held accountable. But to call this an insurrection, for the purposes of disqualification, would create a slippery slope for every state in the Union,” he said.

Listen:

Writing in a blog, Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller likewise wrote that the decision was a “major and extraordinary” one from a state supreme court.

“This is a major and extraordinary holding from a state supreme court. Never in history has a presidential candidate been excluded from the ballot under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment,” he noted.

He was correct. This is the first time that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has even been applied against anybody.

Muller further warned that Trump has only a small window of opportunity to reverse the decision before its effect potentially becomes permanent.

“State law requires the Secretary certify names by January 5, 2024, and while it’s possible to bump beyond that, practical ballot printing deadlines will quickly approach, and the holidays mean any review will be more truncated,” he explained.

Over at @ElectionLawBlog: “BREAKING: by 4-3 vote, Colorado Supreme Court bars Trump from primary ballot” https://t.co/l0pXEoy1RK

— Derek T. Muller (@derektmuller) December 19, 2023

Muller also noted that the decision might “embolden [other] state courts or secretaries of state” to also exclude the former president from the ballot.

“I don’t mean ’embolden’ as a pejorative–I simply mean that Colorado is the first mover, and no other political actor has to be the first mover. Relatedly, other jurisdictions have a blueprint of persuasive reasoning to rely upon–and, perhaps, a doctrine that could have a preclusive effect in other jurisdictions,” he wrote.

Trump for his part responded to the ruling during a rally late Tuesday in Iowa, calling the Biden administration “a threat to democracy” and accusing the president and his allies of using “any means necessary” to affect the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.

Meanwhile, his campaign spokesperson released a lengthy statement slamming both Democrats, as well as the group — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington — that had filed the lawsuit that had in turn led to Tuesday’s decision.

“Unsurprisingly, the all-Democrat appointed Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group’s scheme to interfere in an election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden by removing President Trump’s name from the ballot and eliminating the rights of Colorado voters to vote for the candidate of their choice,” he said.

“Democrat Party leaders are in a state of paranoia over the growing, dominant lead President Trump has amassed in the polls. They have lost faith in the failed Biden presidency and are now doing everything they can to stop the American voters from throwing them out of office next November,” he added.

Trump Campaign Statement on the unAmerican Colorado Supreme Court Ruling pic.twitter.com/LSYBhauBNd

— Alex Bruesewitz (@alexbruesewitz) December 19, 2023

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Vivek Saxena

Senior Staff Writer
Vivek@bizpacreview.com

V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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