New Mexico Judge Francis J. Mathew has removed Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, effective immediately, and barred him from running for public office ever again.
Judge Mathew’s declared Griffin “constitutionally ineligible” to hold public office after the controversial Trump-supporting representative was sentenced to 14 days behind bars and one year of supervised release for participating in the U.S. Capitol riot. Griffin reportedly breached barricades to gain access to the Capitol Building.
Mathew cited the 14th Amendment in his ruling, making Griffin the first office-holder in more than a century to be forbidden from holding office under the constitutional ban on insurrectionists in government.
Besides overseeing Otero County’s management and administration, Griffin gained some prominence in conservative circles as a founder of the group “Cowboys for Trump.”
The ruling drew the attention of the former president’s critics who argue that he should be disqualified from running again under the 14th Amendment.
The New York Times further reports:
“Mr. Griffin is constitutionally disqualified from serving,” the judge wrote.
Liberal groups have filed legal challenges in Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina and Wisconsin seeking to block lawmakers accused of supporting the Jan. 6 rioters — including some prominent Republican members of Congress — from holding office under the Constitution. Until Tuesday, none had succeeded.
“This just went from being theoretical to being something that is legally recognized and legally possible,” said Noah Bookbinder, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a nonpartisan watchdog organization that filed suit against Mr. Griffin on behalf of a group of New Mexico residents. “That’s hugely significant. It could have real implications for protecting the country from people associated with the effort to overturn the last election.”
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, adopted during Reconstruction to punish members of the Confederacy for taking up arms against their country in the Civil War, declares that “no person shall” hold “any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath” to “support the Constitution,” had then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
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Was it a Federal Judge? Was the commissioner charged with insurrection? If the answer is no, I suspect an appeal is forthcoming.
Judge is out of line !!!!!!!!!!!! It was not a insurrection and capital police aided people to enter the capital. How was he to know he was not suppose to enter when police was motioning people to enter ?? The liberal side is becoming so bad that they are going to have to be eliminated at some point. Since Bradon indicated he would come after us Trump supporters I can not wait for him to try it !!!!
First insurrection in history of the world that the insurrectionist did NOT USE WEAPONS!!
“insurrection” is a name only the Democrat liberals have for the peaceful protest in DC on January 6, 2021. Not grounds for this ruling.
Appeal it! . . . then IMPEACH the JUDGE – ASAP and PERMANENTLY.
You can bet this one is going to court.
I’d say this so-called New Mexico judge just opened up a lawsuit and a big can of worms.
Was it a judge corrupted by filthy Soros lucre? Or a community-organized Obama-zoid? I’ll bet it was in a heartbeat.
This is a travesty against Mr. Griffin and all Americans. We have rights to speak out!
The media and Dems want to keep calling Jan 6th an insurrection (even though they had no weapons and were only asking for more time to question the unlikely vote totals) to keep focus away from anyone looking at the probability that the election was stolen.