Activists take Trump 14th Amendment fight to Michigan Supreme Court

A liberal activist group appealed a Michigan court’s decision on Thursday to throw out their case attempting to bar former President Trump from the presidential ballot, taking the case to the state Supreme Court.

Free Speech for People sued the state of Michigan in September, arguing that Trump’s involvement with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots violates the 14th Amendment, which should bar him from being eligible for office.

A lower court threw out the suit last month, arguing that a 14th Amendment challenge is not valid in the primary stage of an election. The appeal requests “emergency application” to bypass the usual state Appeals Court and go straight to the Supreme Court, given the short time until state primary ballots are finalized.

The plaintiffs argued that the Appeals Court’s decision is unnecessary because of the inevitability of appeal to the highest court. 

“It is a virtual certainty that any decision by the Court of Appeals will be appealed to this Court by the losing party,” the filing reads. “But with the pressing need to finalize and print the ballots, there is not time for considered decisions from both the Court of Appeals and this Court.”

The Michigan suit is one of three significant cases nationally hoping to use the 14th Amendment insurrection clause to ban Trump from state presidential ballots.

In all the cases, plaintiffs argue that Trump’s involvement with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots qualifies as falling under that clause, which was originally written to prevent those who supported the Confederacy from being elected president.

If state judges agree to remove Trump from any ballot, the case would likely rise to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed attempts to bar Trump early this month, and a state judge in Colorado is currently overseeing a trial over a similar attempt in that state. The Colorado case is expected to be decided in the coming days.