Immediate Release
January 22, 2024
Contact: Nick Tomboulides, U.S. Term Limits
Email: ntomboulides@termlimits.com
U.S. Term Limits Files Brief in Trump v. Anderson Supreme Court Case
Washington D.C. — U.S. Term Limits, the nation’s oldest and largest pro-term limits group, has just filed an Amicus (“friend of the court”) brief in the high-profile Trump v. Anderson case, which involves Colorado’s decision to remove Donald Trump from its 2024 ballot.
The USTL brief is neutral, meaning it takes no position on whether a state can remove Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. Instead, it argues that the Court’s 1995 ruling in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, which was egregiously wrong, is inapplicable to the Trump case. In Thornton, the Court held, by a narrow 5-4 majority, that states were powerless to impose term limits or other qualifications on their own members of Congress. That decision invalidated congressional term limits in 23 states, suppressing the voice of millions of Americans who had voted for pro-term limits initiatives.
In Trump, Colorado is not attempting to use its own laws to disqualify former President Trump but rather the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, the brief argues, Thornton is not relevant to Trump’s case. Additionally, it forcefully argues that Thornton should be overruled by the Court in the near future.
“The poorly decided, split decision, U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton case was a black eye for our Courts and the rule of law in America,” said Nicolas Tomboulides, Executive Director of U.S. Term Limits. “It would be folly for the Court to reinforce or expand this bad precedent in the upcoming case involving the state of Colorado and former President Trump.”
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The brief was prepared by attorney David Thompson of the law firm Cooper & Kirk, which has extensive experience working in the federal courts arena. The full brief may be viewed by clicking HERE.
U.S. Term Limits is the largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advocating solely on term limits. Our mission is to improve the quality of government with a citizen legislature that closely reflects its constituency and is responsive to the needs of the people it serves. U.S. Term Limits does not require a self-limit on individuals. Our aim is to limit the terms of all members of Congress as an institution. Find out more at termlimits.org.