The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition on Monday to hear an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was ousted from office for participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Couy Griffin, previously a commissioner in New Mexico’s Otero County and the founder of “Cowboys for Trump,” was convicted in 2022 of trespassing at the Capitol. In the same year, Mr. Griffin became the first public official in over a century to be disqualified due to a constitutional ban on insurrectionists holding office outlined in a provision of the 14th Amendment.
The court, following its customary practice, did not provide reasons for rejecting the appeal. The ruling on Monday signifies that Mr. Griffin will continue to be prohibited from running or holding public office in New Mexico.
Just two weeks after declining to hear Mr. Griffin’s appeal, the Supreme Court stated that Colorado could not utilize the same provision to prevent former President Donald J. Trump from being listed on the state’s presidential primary ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court, in response to a case brought by six Colorado voters, had determined in December that Mr. Trump had engaged in insurrection and was ineligible for holding public office.
By overturning that decision, all nine justices sided unanimously with Mr. Trump, asserting that states could not prevent presidential candidates from appearing on ballots. However, there was disagreement among the justices regarding the extent of the ruling. The majority contended that Congress was responsible for enforcing the provision against federal officeholders and candidates.
In simply upholding the New Mexico ban, the court left several questions unanswered.
Mr. Griffin’s attorney, Peter Ticktin, suggested that the court’s order implies his client is permanently barred from holding state and federal office. “This places Couy in a unique category,” Mr. Ticktin remarked. “He is the sole individual to have been removed from office under the 14th Amendment, and we are exploring avenues to return to the New Mexico courts for justice to prevail.”
Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which initiated the case against Mr. Griffin, stated that the court “upheld” the determination that Jan. 6 constituted an insurrection. “It is now incumbent on the states to fulfill their obligation under Section 3 to oust any individual from office who violated their oath by participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection,” he remarked.
In a social media post following the court’s order, Mr. Griffin offered his own interpretation: “I’m officially prohibited by court order from running for any office other than the presidency. I wonder if this applies to the vice presidency as well?”
In a subsequent post, he mentioned that he had lodged an appeal regarding the trespassing charge.
“It only takes one card to bring the house down! Still praying for justice. Trump Card!!” Mr. Griffin wrote.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Griffin, a vocal denier of the 2020 election results, breached barricades at the Capitol, accompanied by a videographer, and addressed the crowd via a bullhorn. He did not enter the building.
In the months leading up to the Jan. 6 riots, Mr. Griffin had attended Stop the Steal rallies and endeavored to recruit protesters to travel to Washington, as noted by Judge Francis J. Mathew of the New Mexico District Court in his ruling disqualifying Mr. Griffin from future office.
In March 2022, Judge Trevor N. McFadden, presiding in the Federal District Court in Washington, found Mr. Griffin guilty of one misdemeanor count of trespassing and acquitted him of another charge of disorderly conduct. Mr. Griffin received a 14-day prison sentence.
Six months later, Judge Mathew issued his decision — in response to a lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington — that Mr. Griffin was to be ousted from office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, established during the Reconstruction era to bar members of the Confederacy from holding office.
