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Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a case that seeks to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot in 2024. The high court, which started a new term Monday, shot down a case brought by John Anthony Castro. The longshot Republican presidential candidate argues that Trump is not eligible to be on the ballot due to his involvement with the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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Trump is considered the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
Castro cites Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a Civil War era provision that was used to bar former members of the Confederacy from holding office.
The case is one of several seeking the same measure to block Trump from appearing on the ballot in the 2024 presidential election. Liberal and conservative organizations, as well as voters, have filed lawsuits in Colorado, Minnesota and Michigan.
The challenges in Minnesota and Colorado are scheduled to go to trial in coming months.
Critics of this use of Section 3 have called the move a "fringe legal theory." Proponents of the measure say Trump's actions leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021, meet the legal definition of engaging in an insurrection.
In a separate decision, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Trump's former attorney John Eastman to block his emails from being viewed by lawmakers in congressional investigations. Eastman asked the high court to overturn a ruling that allowed the House Select Committee that investigated Jan. 6 to access his emails.
Justice Clarence Thomas recused himself from discussing the case, marking the first time he has done so in a case involving the Capitol riot. Eastman is a former clerk of Thomas'.
