Audience in US Supreme Court this will determine whether the former president Donald Trump (2017-2021) disqualified from returning to the lineup. White House for his role in the attack on Capitol January 2021 began this Thursday at the headquarters of the United States’ highest court.

The hearing began around 10:10 a.m. local time (15:10 GMT), with nine justices hearing oral arguments to determine whether Trump’s exclusion from Republican primaries able Colorado It’s constitutional.

The Supreme Court’s decision, which will not be known today, could change next November’s presidential election, in which the New York tycoon is the heavy favorite to win the Republican nomination and take on the president again. Joe Bidencandidate from the Democratic Party.

At the beginning of the hearing, the former president’s lawyer, Jonathan Mitchell, said that 14th amendmentwhich disqualifies persons participating in “insurrection”, It cannot be applied to Trump because the text refers to “officials” and does not mention presidents.

In addition, he argued that the exclusion of a presidential candidate from the ballot is the exclusive function of Congress and requires approval law.

In this sense, the judge Sonia Sotomayor noted that there were numerous examples of states relying on the amendment to disqualify candidates for public office, even though Congress had no such law.

A few hours before the hearing began, the former president again accused democratic party try to remove him from the ballot.

The Supreme Court will have to make a decision quickly because of the busy election calendar, but analysts doubt a decision will be made before Super Tuesday on March 5, when 15 states, including Colorado, hold primaries.

If the high court were to agree with a Colorado court that threw Trump out of the primary in December for “insurrection” following the Capitol attack, it would open the door for other states to make the same decision.

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In this sense, the judge Samuel Alito noted that the consequences of Colorado’s actions could be “quite serious.”

The current makeup of the court is heavily skewed to the right, with three progressive justices compared to six conservatives, three of whom were appointed by Trump himself.

In December, a Colorado court issued an unprecedented ruling, ruling that the 14th Amendment Constitution The US is disqualifying the Republican for “insurrection” in the attack on the Capitol, when a horde of Trumpists attacked Congress in an attempt to stop the ratification of Biden’s victory.

Maine election officials also excluded Trump from the primary under the same argument. In addition, several activists and organizations have filed similar lawsuits in at least 11 states and are awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court.

At the center of the debate is Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

The text establishes that no “Member of Congress or Officer of the United States” who has taken an oath to the Constitution and “has participated in insurrection or rebellion” can be “elected President or Vice President,” among other public offices.

This amendment was approved in 1868, after the Civil War, to prevent Southern Confederate rebels who had betrayed the Confederacy from returning to power. Magna Carta.

For the first time in history, the nation’s highest court is hearing a case involving Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a text that fell into disuse after Congress granted amnesty to most Confederate rebels in 1872.

(EFE)