You don’t have to be a Trump supporter (I am not) to be deeply troubled by Colorado court decision to keep Donald Trump off the primary ballot. …
If the Colorado ruling stands—it won’t; federal courts will overturn it quickly—it will invite local courts in 50 states to begin intervening in the next presidential election unprecedented ways. Believe me, you do not want to invite courts in every zip code to start meddling in federal elections and you don’t want them to start applying Constitutional provisions that have never been used before. The best description of the result would be “chaos.”
The Colorado court decision has harmed the legal system in another way, beyond the presidential election. Among of the most important features of any legal system are its stability, continuity, and predictability.
[Indeed, and that’s why even the most ardent originalists and advocates for judicial modesty still consider stare decisis to be such an important doctrine, although not insurmountable. This goes way beyond those considerations, though, and essentially creates a judicial politburo. That would be inherently arbitrary and capricious, as it is here. — Ed]
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