As it turns out, the Minnesota Supreme Court is the first in the nation (I think) to deal with (or avoid) the question raised about President Trump’s possible disqualification from the ballot under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Yesterday the Court dismissed the petition brought by a gaggle including former Minnesota Secretary of State Joan Growe. The Court held oral argument on the petition last week and posted video of the argument online here.
The Court dismissed Growe’s petition without addressing the Fourteenth Amendment argument. Rather, the Court held that it’s up to the parties to determine the candidates that are to appear on Minnesota’s primary ballot even if the candidate is ineligible for office. The Court reserved the Fourteenth Amendment issue to resolve later in the event that Trump becomes the Republican candidate for president in the general election. The Court’s order dismissing Growe’s petition is posted online here.
I think the underlying idea is that the United States Supreme Court may resolve the issue in other litigation and save the Minnesota Supreme Court the trouble. If not, the Minnesota Supreme Court will deal with it when the time (or the issue) is “ripe.” As King Lear puts it in Shakespeare’s greatest play, “ripeness is all.”
The rest of the order is not “told by an idiot” or “full of sound and fury” — it is prudent and seeks to avoid sound and fury. However, to continue with the famous line from another of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, it “signif[ies] nothing” in terms of the merits of the Fourteenth Amendment argument. The gist of the Court’s dismissal order has been misreported elsewhere and can be misunderstood if not read.
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