The Michigan Supreme Court has decided it will not prevent former US President Trump from appearing on the state’s primary ballot. This comes after a group of plaintiffs brought a challenge to disqualify him based on Section 3 of the US Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. The court stated it was “not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court” in an order posted Wednesday.
The Michigan Supreme Court denied an application to review a December 14 Michigan Court of Appeals judgment that allowed Trump’s placement on primary ballots in accordance with Michigan law. The court also found it had no jurisdiction to issue a declaration that Trump is disqualified from the presidency under the Fourteenth Amendment, thus leaving the Court of Appeals judgment in place.
The Michigan Court of Appeals found that whether Trump prevails in the primary process or is nominated as the Republican candidate for president poses a “purely hypothetical question,” leaving it without jurisdiction to issue a declaratory judgement. According to the court, “[Trump] would minimally need to prevail in the primary process” for the issue to be pertinent enough to warrant court jurisdiction.
The legal challenge was initially brought forth by a group of plaintiffs against Michigan’s Wayne County Election Commission and the Michigan Secretary of State. The plaintiffs claim that Trump was engaged in insurrection on January 6, 2021 during the Capitol riot and is thus subject to disqualification under the “Insurrection Clause” of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution.
Justice Elizabeth Welch was the only judge dissenting the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision, stating she believes the issue of Trump’s qualification was ripe for judicial review, and that the issue was justiciable by the Michigan Supreme Court. However, she concurred with the majority of the court in maintaining that the Secretary of State was not the correct authority to decide whether a presidential candidate was qualified to be on the Michigan presidential ballot.
Interestingly, Michigan Supreme Court’s decision comes in the wake of the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify Trump from that state’s primary ballot over the same constitutional provision. This has led to a public backlash, prompting FBI and local police investigations into threats against the Colorado Supreme Court.