Might the Supreme Court try to sidestep key Trump 14th Amendment questions? ANALYSIS

With the U.S. Supreme Court deciding Friday to consider a Colorado ruling disqualifying Donald Trump from that state's 2024 Republican primary ballot, legal experts say there are several ways the justices could reverse the decision without weighing in directly on Trump's conduct or allegations that he engaged in insurrection after the 2020 election.

Many veteran court watchers who spoke with ABC News before Friday's news presumed the justices will want to sidestep, if at all possible, the politically explosive and untested application of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to a presidential candidate, perhaps hoping to avoid a ruling similar to the court's controversial Bush v. Gore decision that decided the 2000 election.

«There's a fairly good chance that they'll find a way to duck that,» said Harvard Law professor emeritus and constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe. «They'll say it's a political question, not for us, for the voters. Or, they might try to say it's ultimately a constitutional question for the voters to decide.»

While the court could wade into the substance – either endorsing the Colorado Supreme Court finding that Trump «engaged in insurrection» on Jan. 6, 2021, or overturning it with a contrary analysis of the facts – a swift narrow or technical decision may be the most advantageous approach for a court looking to avoid being cast as interfering with the election.

«As the hours go by, it's more likely they are not going to drag this out,» said ABC News legal analyst Sarah Isgur. «Having oral arguments elevates the whole thing and makes it more climactic.»

Former Trump Solicitor General Noel Francisco, in a court filing last week, urged the justices to take one possible off-ramp that he says exists in the plain