Supreme Court to decide if Donald Trump ‘engaged in insurrection’


When the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral argument next week in a case that could disqualify Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential election, the justices will consider complex and politically fraught questions.

The case, Trump v. Anderson, concerns whether Mr. Trump is barred from running by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. This Civil War-era provision holds that anyone who “engages in insurrection” against the United States is disqualified from public office. Last month, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the provision applies to Mr. Trump.

Why We Wrote This

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The U.S. Supreme Court will make a historic ruling on whether the Constitution disqualifies Donald Trump from running for president. Ahead of the Feb. 8 oral argument, the Monitor is previewing the most important questions. To read the first two installments, click here and here.

The case is unprecedented, raising complex and rarely litigated questions. Among them, two are more politically sensitive than the others: Do the events on and around Jan. 6, 2021, constitute an “insurrection”? And did Mr. Trump “engage in” that insurrection?

The case has drawn comparisons to other big Supreme Court cases with issues that bitterly divided the country. With Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, it was segregation. With United States v. Nixon in 1974, it was Watergate.

This will be the court’s first case concerning the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

When the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral argument next week in a case that could see Donald Trump disqualified from the 2024 presidential election, the justices will consider a number of complex and politically fraught questions.

The case, Trump v. Anderson, concerns whether Mr. Trump is barred from running by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The Civil War-era provision holds that anyone who “engages in insurrection” against the United States is disqualified from public office, and last month the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the provision applies to Mr. Trump.

The case is unprecedented, and it raises a host of complex and rarely litigated questions. Among those questions, two stand out as more politically sensitive than any others: Do the events on and around Jan. 6, 2021, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol while Congress certified the 2020 election results, constitute an “insurrection” per Section 3? And did Mr. Trump “engage in” that insurrection?

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

The U.S. Supreme Court will make a historic ruling on whether the Constitution disqualifies Donald Trump from running for president. Ahead of the Feb. 8 oral argument, the Monitor is previewing the most important questions. To read the first two installments, click here and here.

These are the kinds of questions the Supreme Court tends to try to avoid. There are several issues on which the justices could decide the case, so they could still choose to avoid it. Even then, experts say, the court’s silence will be deafening.

What “engaging in insurrection” means 

There is little in Section 3, or elsewhere in the Constitution, clarifying what “engages in insurrection” means. The question is also a fact-specific one, and in the U.S. court system, district courts are considered the main finders of fact. That can be a challenge in election cases, which are often heard on expedited timelines, as this case was. 

In the Anderson case, the district court held a five-day trial that included 15 witnesses and 96 exhibits, with another two weeks for parties to submit other findings of fact and legal arguments. Much of that time was spent analyzing events leading up to and during Jan. 6, including President Trump’s fiery speech to protesters just two hours before they breached the Capitol and his repeated false claims before and during that day that he had won the 2020 election.



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