SCOTUS keeping 'insurrectionist' Trump on ballot is a 'suicide pact' for democracy: column

The Supreme Court of the United States' (SCOTUS) pending decision on the Colorado Supreme Court case that disqualified former President Trump from the state's Republican primary ballot will have far-reaching impacts on democracy, according to a Guardian columnist.

In a Thursday op-ed, labor journalist Steven Greenhouse argued that the Anderson v. Griswold case that disqualified Trump for his role in the January 6, 2021 siege of the US Capitol constituted an "insurrection" by a plain interpretation of the Constitution and should be upheld. He emphasized that point by stressing the praise the Colorado ruling got from conservative legal experts and conservative members, meaning SCOTUS members who subscribe to the conservative legal philosophies of textualism and originalism should be in favor of disqualification.

On the other hand, Greenhouse wrote that SCOTUS failing to disqualify Trump would effectively render Section 3 of the 14th Amendment (the insurrection clause) moot, and pave the way to the eventual end of democracy.

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"Not only is the text of Section 3 crystal clear about barring insurrectionists, but the Radical Republicans who wrote the 14th amendment would have been repulsed by the idea of letting an insurrectionist like Trump run for the highest office of the land," Greenhouse wrote. "Notwithstanding what Trump’s defenders say, those who seek to disqualify Trump are not suppressing democracy. They are seeking to enforce the constitution’s clear language against the nation’s most prominent insurrectionist. The person who is seeking to suppress democracy is Trump (along with many of his Maga supporters)."

Greenhouse directly laid out the stakes for what a second Trump term would mean for both democracy and the rule of law. He reminded readers that Trump has said he would be a dictator "on day one" of a second term, has directly called for the termination of articles of the US Constitution and would weaponize the government against his political enemies.

"If [SCOTUS] lets Trump remain on the ballot, history may remember John Roberts and company as the court that gave a bright green light to the election of an insurrectionist who would end our democracy as we know it," Greenhouse wrote. "If the justices interpret the constitution to let insurrectionist Trump remain on the ballot, the Roberts court may be taking a giant, highly regrettable step toward turning our constitution into a suicide pact for our democracy."

In addition to Colorado, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has also disqualified Trump from appearing on the ballot due to the insurrection clause. Trump's legal team is appealing that decision in a Maine superior court.

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Read Greenhouse's full op-ed by clicking here.