Morning Joe: Will The Roberts Court Punt On 14th Amendment?
Will the Roberts Court Punt on Trump's 14th Amendent Eligibility? Magic 8 ball says it appears likely.
Will SCOTUS take the Colorado case that decides whether states can keep Trump off the ballot on the basic of his insurrection? A Morning Joe panel discussed the possibilities this morning.
"It hasn't taken the case yet, but the Colorado Republican party has already asked the court to take the case and act really fast, before the Super Tuesday primary. It is quite likely the court engages," Joyce Vance said.
"Joyce, i want to ask in a second about how quickly the Supreme Court needs to take this up, how quickly it will, but let's talk about its job in the case," Willie Geist said.
"Is it not the job of the Supreme Court to interpret the Constitution without concern for the political backlash or the questions that might arise for the country, which are all noteworthy and things we should probably be concerned about? but in terms of the justices on that court, are they not just looking at whether this is constitutional?
'The issue in front of them is the pure legal issue of Trump's eligibility. the court isn't supposed to take into account any political considerations. But I think Adam (Liptak,NYTimes SCOTUS reporter) is dead on the money when he talks about there being a lot of potential procedural off-ramps that the court could take that would permit Trump to remain on the ballot," Vance said.
"I think in this situation, it's difficult to believe that they'll completely divorce themselves from the policy considerations. A lot of people are concerned about removing the choice from the hands of voters, but if we look at it strictly as a legal matter, there are certain eligibility criteria to be president. You have to be 35. You have to be a native born citizen. Those criteria are a little more black and white than this question of whether or not Trump engaged in insurrection.
"That, I suspect, is the area the court will focus on if they want to avoid disqualifying him based on the 14th amendment."