[[{“value”:”On Thursday, Colorado Attorney Jason Murray made his Supreme Court debut on behalf of six Colorado voters who filed a lawsuit to prevent Trump from running for president in Colorado in 2024.
Several Justices repeatedly refuted Murray’s insurrection-related arguments during dental arguments.
Justices Roberts and Alito were two of the most vocal.
” Insurrection is a large, wide term,” said Chief Justice Roberts. ZNPCxTridU/twitter.com
— February 8, 2024, CSPAN ( @cspan )
Justice Alito once actually poked Joe Biden while he was questioning Murray.
Joe Biden is slapped by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito during Donald Trump’s 14th Amendment case before the SCOTUS.
” Suppose a nation repeatedly declares that the United States is its greatest enemy, and suppose the president of that nation for… pic. Twitter.com/ 3s4onZ1ewR
— February 8, 2024, Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief )
Justice Kavanaugh participated in the action, taking particular issue with a state that barred Trump from the presidential election due to insurrection even though he had n’t been found guilty of it.
CNN reports:
Later, during a questioning session with Colorado voter attorney Jason Murray, Kavanaugh questioned why Trump should be barred from voting if he has n’t been found guilty of inciting an uprising. Trump is facing additional charges from special counsel Jack Smith regarding his actions following the 2020 election, but Kavanaugh noted that there was a national statute for insurrection and that he had never been charged with it.
Murray argued that Trump could never be removed from the race by a national conviction because the national insurrection statute was passed prior to the adoption of the 14th Amendment.
For Trump supporters, this case has thus far appeared to be a great victory.
It’s possible that a majority 9-0 decision is on the horizon.
More information about the skepticism of Justice Roberts and Justice Alito was published in The Washington Post:
Murray was questioned by Roberts about how difficult it is to identify an insurrection. He expressed skepticism regarding a situation in which” we would be deciding whether it was an insurrection when one president did something as opposed to when someone else did that,” and which of those acts constituted an uprising.
We have n’t seen anything like January 6, which is why Section 3 has been dormant for 160 years, according to Murray.
Roberts retorted,” It seems to me you’re avoiding the question about what an insurrectionist is.”
Alito echoed Trump’s claim that if a decision was made to keep him off the ballot, partisans would try to punish their democratic rivals by repeatedly attempting to stop them from running for office.
Murray noted that since the Civil War, there has n’t been anything resembling an uprising until January 6. The presidents were not impeached for 100 years, and “in very short order over the last couple of decades, we’ve had three,” Alito retorted, adding that the past could not predict the future.
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Colorado Attorney Jason Murray made his Supreme Court debut Thursday representing six Colorado voters who sued to keep Trump off the Colorado presidential ballot in 2024.
During oral arguments, multiple Justices continually rebutted Murray’s arguments concerning insurrection.
Two of the most outspoken were Justices Roberts and Alito.
Chief Justice Roberts: “Insurrection is a broad, broad term…” pic.twitter.com/ZNPCxTridU
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 8, 2024
At one point, Justice Alito even took a stab at Joe Biden as he questioned Murray.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito smacks Joe Biden during Donald Trump’s 14th Amendment Case before SCOTUS.
“Suppose there is a country that proclaims again and again and again that the United States is its biggest enemy, and suppose that the president of the United States for… pic.twitter.com/3s4onZ1ewR
— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) February 8, 2024
Justice Kavanaugh got in on the action, taking particular issue with a state barring Trump from the presidential ballot over insurrection when he hasn’t been convicted of insurrection.
According to CNN:
Later, during questioning of Jason Murray, the attorney representing Colorado voters, Kavanaugh questioned why Trump should be removed from the ballot when he has not been convicted of inciting an insurrection. Kavanaugh noted there was a federal statute for insurrection and that Trump had not been charged with it, although he is facing other charges from special counsel Jack Smith related to his actions after the 2020 election.
Murray argued that the federal insurrection statute was enacted before the 14th Amendment was adopted, and that a federal conviction was not required to remove Trump from the ballot.
So far this case is looking like a huge victory for Trump supporters.
A unanimous 9-0 decision may be looming.
The Washington Post reported more on the skepticism from Justice Roberts and Justice Alito:
Roberts questioned Murray about the difficulties of determining when someone commits insurrection. He voiced skepticism about a scenario in which “we would be deciding whether it was an insurrection when one president did something as opposed to when somebody else did something else,” and which of those acts amounted to insurrection.
“There’s a reason Section 3 has been dormant for 160 years, and it’s because we haven’t seen anything like January 6,” Murray said.
“It seems to me you’re avoiding the question” about the definition of an insurrectionist, Roberts replied.
Alito echoed an argument from Trump that a ruling to keep him off the ballot would lead to partisans attempting to punish their political rivals by routinely trying to prevent them from running for office.
Murray noted that, until Jan. 6, there hasn’t been anything like an insurrection since the Civil War. Alito responded that the past could not predict the future, noting that there were no impeachments of presidents for 100 years and “in fairly short order over the last couple of decades, we’ve had three.”
“}]]
