Left: Justices of the Colorado Supreme Court. Top from left: Justice Carlos A. Samour, Jr., Justice Richard L. Gabriel, Justice Melissa Hart, Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter
Bottom from left: Justice Monica M. Márquez, Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright, Justice William W. Hood, III (via Colorado Judicial Branch). Right: FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden as President in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File).
Judges sitting on the highest court in the Mile High State are reportedly under extra protection after receiving threats over their decision to bar Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the former president is ineligible to appear on the ballot because he “engaged in an insurrection” by taking steps to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win. The high court’s ruling reversed a lower court’s decision that Section III of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — which bars people who have violated an oath to uphold the Constitution from serving in public office — did not apply to presidents.
In the wake of that reversal, threats have been made against the justices, according to a CNN report. That includes the names of the four justices who joined the majority decision appearing frequently in “incendiary” online posts in extremist forums, CNN reported.
“The FBI is aware of the situation and working with local law enforcement,” an FBI spokesperson confirmed to Law&Crime in an email. “We will vigorously pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation.”
Police in Denver, Colorado, have confirmed that “incidents” have occurred.
“The Denver Police Department is currently investigating incidents directed at Colorado Supreme Court justices and will continue working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to thoroughly investigate any reports of threats or harassment,” a Denver Police spokesperson said in an email to Law&Crime. “Due to the open investigations and safety and privacy considerations, we will not be providing details of these investigations. The Department is providing extra patrols around justice’s residences in Denver and will provide additional safety support if/as requested.”
The Colorado Judicial Department declined to comment.
The surprise ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court was a narrow one, with four of the seven justices joining in the majority opinion. Each of the remaining three justices wrote a separate dissent. All of the justices were appointed by Democratic governors.
It’s not the first time a judicial ruling seen as not in the former president’s favor has sparked threats. In August, Texas woman Abigail Jo Shry was arrested for leaving a threatening, racist voicemail for U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over Trump’s federal election subversion case in Washington, D.C. Chutkan, who is Black, received the call days after Trump was indicted.
Trump himself made a law clerk a target after publicly criticizing the lead law clerk in the courtroom of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York. Trump’s repeated comments about the clerk have resulted in fines imposed on the former president for repeatedly violating Engoron’s gag order.
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