Trump v. Anderson
United States Supreme Court
601 U.S. 100 (2024)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
On January 6, 2021, a group of people breached the United States Capitol while Congress was meeting to certify the 2020 election. Former president Donald Trump (defendant) sought to run for the presidency again in 2024. Norma Anderson and other Colorado voters (collectively, Anderson) (plaintiffs) filed suit in Colorado state court, alleging that Trump was ineligible to serve as president again due to a role he played in the breach. Specifically, Anderson relied on § 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which under Anderson’s reading provided that if a person took an oath of public office to protect the United States Constitution and then violated the oath by engaging in an insurrection, the person was no longer eligible to be president. Anderson asserted that the January 6 breach was one such insurrection and that Trump incited the breach. The Colorado district court found that Trump had engaged in the insurrection but that the oath of the presidency was not included in the group of offices in § 3. The Colorado Supreme Court reversed, agreeing with Anderson and ruling that Trump should be removed from the 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
Concurrence (Sotomayor, J.)
Concurrence (Barrett, J.)
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