Unfortunately, it really wasn’t. They unanimously agreed that the Colorado Supreme Court was overstepping its authority, in that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has to be executed at the federal level for federal officers. While I’m not particularly happy with this result, I understand their reasoning, and I think it’s as fair a ruling as they could have made. Four of the justices wanted to stop here, however, but the more conservative justices did not – which is what makes this ruling problematic. Basically the other 5 justices ignored the plain-text of the amendment to assert their preferred outcome, which was basically to invalidate Section 3 in its entirety. (They argued that congressional action was necessary to clarify how Section 3 works, which is, IMO, absurd – especially given how they’re quite willing to invoke the plain-text meaning of other sections of the Constitution when it conforms more to their liking.) With this judgement, they’re basically saying that it doesn’t matter if Trump committed insurrection or not, it will take an act of Congress to so define it and invalidate his ability to be President.
Unfortunately, it really wasn’t. They unanimously agreed that the Colorado Supreme Court was overstepping its authority, in that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has to be executed at the federal level for federal officers. While I’m not particularly happy with this result, I understand their reasoning, and I think it’s as fair a ruling as they could have made. Four of the justices wanted to stop here, however, but the more conservative justices did not – which is what makes this ruling problematic. Basically the other 5 justices ignored the plain-text of the amendment to assert their preferred outcome, which was basically to invalidate Section 3 in its entirety. (They argued that congressional action was necessary to clarify how Section 3 works, which is, IMO, absurd – especially given how they’re quite willing to invoke the plain-text meaning of other sections of the Constitution when it conforms more to their liking.) With this judgement, they’re basically saying that it doesn’t matter if Trump committed insurrection or not, it will take an act of Congress to so define it and invalidate his ability to be President.