Editorial: U.S. Supreme Court needs to act quickly, not delay, on Trump's ballot status

CBC Editorial: Friday, Dec. 29, 2023; # 8895

The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company

In the American democracy the judicial system provides a critical role – providing some certainty amid the shifting policy landscape arising from the popularly elected legislative and executive branches of government.

Questions arise about the constitutionality of the laws the legislative branch enacts or the legality of the way the executive branch implements those laws. It is left to the independent judiciary to examine, assess and determine if the laws meet their constitutional criteria.

Just as significant, the courts play a role in assuring the stability of the democracy avoiding opportunities for panic and crisis.

It is the U.S. Supreme Court’s abandonment of this vital role that is so troubling about its refusal to take up the questions of Donald Trump’s claims of presidential immunity (related to his service in office from 2017 through 2021) and status as a 2024 presidential candidate.

Presidential primary caucuses and elections start in less than three weeks. The North Carolina presidential primary is three months away. Yet, state courts and elections officials across the nation are wrestling with challenges to Trump’s qualifications to be on the ballot.

On Thursday Maine’s Secretary of State joined Colorado’s Supreme Court in saying Trump’s past actions – particularly related his words and acts in connection to the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks and riot in the U.S. Capitol amount to insurrection. As such, according to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, bar him from seeking office and qualifying to be on the ballot in those states.

Further, Trump is facing state and federal charges related conduct of his businesses, false claims made in orchestrating and seeking to overturn his 2020 defeat.

Rather than bringing certainty to the campaigns and elections, the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to take on the questions of presidential immunity BEFORE people go to the polls, the court will instead allow voters to make presidential choices for weeks – as trials and appeals court debates are intertwined with the candidates barnstorming on the campaign trail.

The failure of the Supreme Court to accept this matter now only means that, regardless of the court’s ultimate decision when it does deal with it, one side or the other will find it too easy to claim that the courts acted on behalf of one campaign or the other. Trump will claim exoneration – which it won’t be regardless of how the court rules – or that it just adds more justification for his phony claims of stolen elections.

Trump’s strategy of using the courts to delay and defer has been a hallmark of his conduct as a business executive and as a public official. Courts cases that are decades old, throughout the nation, are evidence of his standard of operation.

It is time for the U.S. Supreme Court to do its job, to take up and resolve Trump’s claims of presidential immunity.

Trump deserves to know his status as a candidate.

But more importantly, voters deserve to cast meaningful ballots and they MUST know Trump’s status BEFORE they vote.

Capitol Broadcasting Company's Opinion Section seeks a broad range of comments and letters to the editor. Our Comments beside each opinion column offer the opportunity to engage in a dialogue about this article. In addition, we invite you to write a letter to the editor about this or any other opinion articles. Here are some tips on submissions >> SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR