“They can completely ignore the question did Trump commit insurrection.”
I must not be making myself clear.
They will overturn the Colorado Supreme Court decision which states that Trump committed insurrection and therefore will not be on the ballot as supposedly the 14th amendment demands.
When the decision is overturned, everything is overturned — the ballot exclusion and the insurrection ruling it is based on will be gone. The Supreme Court will not split its decision on mere parts of the ruling. That would be absurd.
No, that’s not the logic. The word ‘insurrection’ doesn’t even need to be a consideration at all.
The logic is that the 14th Amendment does not in any way apply to the President. It never did. Therefore, Colorado’s decision using the 14th Amendment is void since the 14th Amendment does not apply to the President.
In no way does that nullify the Colorado court’s claim that Trump committed insurrection. That claim remains for challenge.
IF, and a very big IF, the court addresses the insurrection claim, they may set it aside as Trump did not have a trial and their ruling that he committed insurrection is in violation of his constitutional right to a trial. The USSC usually addresses only the part of a decision that has the effect needed. They tend not to address all parts of a decisions once the effect has changed.