New Mexico Judge Bars Cowboys for Trump Co-Founder, County Commissioner From Holding Elected Office After Federal Jan. 6 Conviction
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In a landmark ruling on Tuesday, a New Mexico state district court judge barred Otero County Commissioner and Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin from holding or seeking public office again.
“This decision marks the first time since 1869 that a court has disqualified a public official under Section 3, and the first time that any court has ruled the events of January 6, 2021 an insurrection,” noted Citizens for Ethics while reporting on the ruling.
In March, Griffin was convicted on a federal misdemeanor for entering the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, and sentenced to 14 days in jail, but released for time served.
District Court Judge Francis Mathew ruled that Griffin be immediately removed from office and permanently banned from any future office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment – also known as the “Disqualification Clause.”
Citizens for Ethics breaks down the language of the clause:
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Disqualification Clause, bars any person from holding federal or state office who took an “oath…to support the Constitution of the United States” as an “officer of any State” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or gave “aid or comfort” to insurrectionists. Griffin, as an Otero County Commissioner since January 2019, took an oath to “support and uphold the Constitution and laws of the State of New Mexico, and the Constitution of the United States.”
Efforts to bar Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from running for reelection based on the same clause failed in May. Judges struck down similar efforts, backed by voting rights nonprofit Free Speech for People, which also sought to bar Reps. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) from office. No sitting member of Congress has been charged for actions surrounding Jan. 6.
