Ex-federal judge says Supreme Court has no ‘legitimate off ramps’ to avoid Trump decision

Retired federal Judge J. Michael Luttig said Thursday the Supreme Court has no “legitimate off ramps” to avoid a decision on whether former President Trump should be kicked off the 2024 presidential ballot, as the court begins oral arguments on the issue.

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled in December that Trump is disqualified from the election because his conduct surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot qualifies as inciting insurrection, in violation of the 14th Amendment. Trump appealed the ruling to the high court.

Luttig, a conservative who served on the Fourth Circuit of Appeals for 25 years, predicted that the Supreme Court is likely looking for any way to avoid a substantive ruling on the Trump disqualification case, but that there really isn’t one there.

“The Supreme Court finds itself in a very precarious position today,” Luttig said in an MSNBC interview. “Undoubtedly, it doesn’t want to decide this case, and it will be looking for all legitimate off ramps to decide that the former president is disqualified. But there are no legitimate off ramps to that decision.”

Legal scholars have predicted that the court could rule that the 14th Amendment clause does not apply to the presidency, or that Trump’s speech and actions surrounding Jan. 6 does not qualify as inciting insurrection as possible ways to avoid a complete ruling on the merits of the matter.

Luttig, who previously said that the 14th Amendment should disqualify Trump, said a ruling on a technicality is not likely if the court reads the clause fairly.

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“If Section Three doesn’t disqualify the president, then in my view, it would not disqualify any person at all,” he said.

“This case is probably even the most historic constitutional and political case in all of American history,” he continued. “Section Three of the 14th Amendment is the constitutional safety net for American democracy, and it’s as [if] the framers of Section Three for saw Jan. 6, 2021 and they provided in Section Three that America would never experience another Jan. 6.”

Multiple states have halted proceedings to determine Trump’s ballot eligibility until the Supreme Court rules the Colorado case. The oral arguments Thursday could mark clues into whether certain justices are interested in pursuing such “off ramps” to a full ruling.