Supreme Court Lets Public Office Ban Stand for 'Cowboys for Trump' Founder (New York Times)

[ificandream]

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Couy Griffin, seen here in Washington in 2022, was the first public official in more than a century to be disqualified from office as a result of a constitutional ban on insurrectionists. Credit...Gemunu Amarasinghe/Associated Press

By Sopan Deb
March 18, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a request on Monday to hear an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was removed from office after taking part in the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol. Couy Griffin, formerly a commissioner in New Mexico’s Otero County and the founder of “Cowboys for Trump,” was convicted in 2022 of trespassing at the Capitol. That same year, Mr. Griffin became the first public official in more than a century to be disqualified because of a constitutional ban on insurrectionists holding office contained in a provision of the 14th Amendment.

As is its custom, the court gave no reasons for turning away the appeal. The order on Monday means that Mr. Griffin will remain barred from running or holding public office in New Mexico. The Supreme Court declined to hear Mr. Griffin’s appeal two weeks after it said Colorado could not use that same provision to stop former President Donald J. Trump from appearing on the state’s presidential primary ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court — taking on a case that was brought by six Colorado voters — had ruled in December that Mr. Trump had engaged in insurrection and was barred from holding public office.

In overturning that decision, the nine justices unanimously sided with Mr. Trump, saying states could not bar presidential candidates from ballots, though there was disagreement among the justices as to the scope of what the ruling should have addressed. The majority said that Congress was responsible for enforcing the provision against federal officeholders and candidates.

(snip)

Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which brought the case against Mr. Griffin, said that the court “kept in place” the finding that Jan. 6 was an insurrection. “Now it is up to the states to fulfill their duty under Section 3 to remove from office anyone who broke their oath by participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection,” he said.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. So in this case they allow local officials or courts (not sure which) to make this decision

Kind of contradicts overruling Colorado Supreme Court in the Trump ballot decision, though he was only going to be on the ballot at that point, not be an officeholder.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

2. It doesn't contradict at all.

The Colorado case clearly stated that Colorado could make that decision for state and local elections, but they cannot for federal elections. This was a county commissioner.

[GreenWave]

3. Dramatic foreshadowing if IQ 45 finally found guilty for J-6?