BY NBC NEWS
Washington, DC It was always expected that the numerous new questions brought up by the legal troubles of former President Donald Trump would be decided in part by the Supreme Court.
However, it might have arrived sooner than anticipated.
Before the 2024 election year even begins, the court—which has a 6-3 conservative majority and three Trump-appointed justices—must decide on two important and novel legal matters: whether Trump is eligible to run for office again and whether he is entitled to presidential immunity for any crimes he may have committed while in office.
John Elwood, a Washington attorney who represents clients before the court, said, “This is a once-in-a-generation, maybe once-in-a-lifetime confluence of events where the court cnfronts a series of very basic and very important issues relevant to self-government—the biggest since the Watergate era.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith requested last week that the justices intervene promptly on the immunity issue, which is a major obstacle to Trump’s criminal prosecution for meddling in the election in Washington. In the event that the Supreme Court accepts Trump’s broad assertions, the charges will be dropped.
Following a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday,
Trump’s legal team has already declared that it will ask the justices to reverse the ruling, which stated that the former president is ineligible to run for president in the state due to his involvement in the events leading up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The 14th Amendment’s prohibition on anybody who “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office is at the center of the lawsuit. Numerous new legal issues are brought up by it, such as whether the wording really applies to a presidential candidate.
A case that the court decided to hear last week concerning a guy accused of his activities on January 6 is also lingering since it relates to the same federal statute that may have an impact on Trump’s prosecution in Washington. Trump is being prosecuted in four separate criminal cases, including that one.
The court faces an especially difficult task because of the politically contentious nature of the cases, as evidenced by the decline in popularity polls that followed its decision last year to reverse the historic Roe v. Wade verdict on abortion rights.
That created a discussion over whether the court’s legitimacy was in jeopardy since the public’s trust could be lost. Claims that conservative Justice Clarence Thomas and other justices have violated ethical standards have shaken the court in more recent times.
There are already parallels between the Supreme Court’s critical involvement in the Trump legal battles and the 2000 election when the justices ultimately handed down a crucial 5-4 decision that put a halt to the Florida recount and helped Republican nominee George W. Bush defeat Democratic rival Al Gore.
“The US Supreme Court is once again thrown into the middle of a presidential race. However, in contrast to 2000, the current state of affairs is far more hazardous due to the nation’s general political volatility, as noted by Rick Hasen, an expert in election law at the UCLA School of Law, who authored a post immediately following the Colorado verdict. He stated in a follow-up email that the Colorado case is fundamental to the election itself, in contrast to the immunity dispute.
New York University School of Law professor Rick Pildes shared Hasen’s opinion that the Colorado case in particular presents significant concerns for the court.
“Unless the court can reach a close to unanimous decision or decide the case in a way that scrambles up the perceived ideological divides on the court, half the country is going to believe the court acted in a partisan fashion,” he stated.
Timing is crucial in all of the election-related matters that are currently before the court, since Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nominee and the primary season is drawing near.
By explicitly stating that the decision will be put on hold indefinitely after Trump requests that the U.S. Supreme Court step in, the Colorado Supreme Court helped defuse some of the controversy surrounding its own decision.
Colorado officials “will continue to be required to include President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot” until the Supreme Court takes action, according to the state court.
It is unlikely that the Supreme Court will take any significant action before the Colorado primary ballot deadline in early January, so it is still likely that Trump will be on the ballot for the March 5 election as long as the dispute is ongoing.
The Supreme Court may decide to hear the lawsuit and render a decision, but unless it does so very soon, it might only apply in the general election. Any ruling would impact instances identical to this in other jurisdictions.
Despite Smith’s attempt to avoid going through the regular appeals procedure, the justices also have the option of taking their time on the immunity question. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is still deliberating and has not issued a decision. On January 9, oral arguments are planned.
Before determining whether to become involved, the Supreme Court might just wait for the appeals court to take action. On Wednesday, Trump is expected to submit his response to Smith’s request.
The court will determine in the upcoming months whether to drop the allegation against Jan. 6 defendant Joseph Fischer for allegedly interfering with an official proceeding—that is, Congress’s certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory. It is one of the accusations Trump is up against in the case involving the alleged election meddling in Washington. The trial is set to start in March.
In the event that Fischer prevails, Trump may attempt to have the trial postponed and pursue a motion to have the indictment dropped.
