SCOTUS Rejects Appeal of New Mexico Official DQd Under 14th Amendment Insurrection Clause

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was kicked out of office over his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

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Former Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin, a cowboy pastor who rode to national political fame by embracing then-President Donald Trump with a series of horseback caravans, is the only elected official thus far to be banned from office in connection with the Capitol attack, which disrupted Congress as it was trying to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory over Trump.

At a 2022 trial in state district court, Griffin received the first disqualification from office in over a century under a provision of the 14th Amendment written to prevent former Confederates from serving in government after the Civil War.

Ed Morrissey

In the decision for Trump v Anderson, the court unanimously held that states could not enforce the 14th Amendment, Section 3 "insurrection" disqualification against candidates for federal office. They did allow that states could use it for state and local offices, however, and seem to have endorsed it here. Griffin got disqualified in a lawsuit brought by CREW even though he didn't get charged with insurrection. This still seems very deficient on due-process grounds, but the court seems to feel that issue belongs to state courts and not federal courts. 

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