Donald Trump and the United States Supreme Court

Introduction to the United States Supreme Court

Justices of the Supreme Court - official photo - https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/justices.aspx

Photos of the Supreme Court Building Interior and Exterior - https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/photos.aspx

Traditional Opening of Supreme Court Sessions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bct6RRAe0_s

Article III of the U.S. Constitution - The Judiciary Article - Sections 1 and 2

28 U.S.C. Section 28: "The Supreme Court of the United States shall consist of a Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of whom shall constitute a quorum."

Map of the Federal Court Districts and Circuits - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/US_Court_of_Appeals_and_District_Court_map.svg/2000px-US_Court_of_Appeals_and_District_Court_map.svg.png

14th Amendment, Section 3:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

14th Amendment, Section 5:
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Trump v. Anderson

Per Curiam Opinion:

1. “[F]ederal officers ‘owe their existence & functions to the united voice of the whole, not of a portion, of the people,’ [and therefore] powers over their election and qualifications must be specifically ‘delegated to, rather than reserved by, the States.’”

2. “The ‘patchwork’ that would likely result from state enforcement would ‘sever the direct link that the Framers found so critical between the National Government and the people of the United States’ as a whole. But in a presidential election ‘the impact of the votes cast in each State is affected by the votes cast’ -- or, in this case, the votes not allowed to be cast -- ‘for the various candidates in other States.’” . . . “The disruption would be all the more acute -- and could nullify the votes of millions and change the election result -- if Section 3 enforcement were attempted after the Nation has voted. Nothing in the Constitution requires that we endure such chaos.”

18 U.S. Code § 2383 - Rebellion or insurrection:
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.

Timeline of Trump v. Anderson

Sept. 6, 2023 - Colorado ballot disqualification case is filed in the trial court.

Nov. 17, 2023 - state trial court judge issues her opinion rejecting the effort to remove Trump from the ballot based on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Dec. 6, 2023 - oral argument in appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court.

Dec. 19, 2023 - Colorado Supreme Court issues opinion removing Trump from the primary ballot, but gives Trump till January 4, 2024 to ask the Supreme Court to review the decision.

Jan. 5, 2024 - Supreme Court grants review in Trump v. Anderson, the Colorado case.

Feb. 8, 2024 - oral argument in Trump v. Anderson.

Mar. 4, 2024 - Supreme Court issues its opinion refusing to allow Colorado to remove Trump from the ballot based on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Timeline of Trump v. United States

Aug. 1, 2023 - Trump is indicted for his actions trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Aug. 3, 2023 - Trump pleads not guilty.

Oct. 5, 2023 - Trump files a motion to dismiss the charges based on presidential immunity.

Dec. 1, 2023 - Judge Chutkan denies Trump’s immunity claim and Trump appeals her decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Dec. 11, 2023 - Jack Smith files a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment with the Supreme Court.

Dec. 13, 2023 - Judge Chutkan grants Trump’s request to stay any further trial proceedings while the case is on appeal.

Dec. 22, 2023 - The Supreme Court denies Smith’s petition.

Jan. 9, 2024 - The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals hears the oral argument in the immunity case.

Feb. 6, 2024 - The D.C. Circuit issues its decision rejecting Trump’s immunity argument, but delaying the issuance of its mandate so Trump can ask the Supreme Court to intervene.

Feb. 12, 2024 - Trump files an emergency application with the Supreme Court asking the Court to stay the Court of Appeals decision while he files a cert petition.

Feb. 14, 2024 - Jack Smith files his response to Trump’s application which he asks the Court to deny, but in the alternative if it decides to grant Trump’s application he asks the Court to expedite its hearing of the case so that trial preparations can resume without too much additional delay.

Feb. 28, 2024 - the Supreme Court agrees to review the Ct of Appeals decision rejecting the presidential immunity defense.

Apr. 25, 2024 - the oral argument in Trump v. United States will be heard.