On Sept. 6, Judge Francis Mathew, a state district court judge in New Mexico, disqualified Couy Griffin, an Otero County commissioner who enthusiastically participated in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, from holding office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. That clause provides: “No person ... shall hold any [state or federal] office, who, having previously taken an oath, as [a state or federal officer] to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” If someone has taken the oath of office—whether or not that person is currently in office—and later “engage[s] in insurrection or rebellion,” that person is constitutionally prohibited from holding any state or federal office in the present or future.
State v. Griffin is an important test case for efforts to disqualify elected or formerly elected officials who supported the Jan. 6 insurgents from holding or seeking public office—including any efforts to block Donald Trump from appearing on ballots in the 2024 presidential election. Although the Griffin decision is not binding law outside of a judicial district in New Mexico, Mathew’s opinion provides a foundation for current or future legal actions seeking to disqualify past or present Republican officeholders under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which litigated the Griffin case with assistance from prominent law firms in Washington, D.C. and New Mexico, and other public interest associations, is likely to bring lawsuits against other officeholders “leagued” in some way with the insurgents who invaded the Capitol grounds and building. (One such group has already written letters to all 50 secretaries of state urging them not to permit Trump’s name to appear on state ballots in 2024.)
Will these other cases succeed?
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