A New Mexico judge cites insurrection in barring a county commissioner from office

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/06/ [login to see] /couy-griffin-otero-county-insurrection-fourteenth-amendment
A county official in New Mexico who was convicted of entering a restricted area during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol must be immediately removed from office for his involvement in an insurrection, a judge decided Tuesday.

District Court Judge Francis Mathew ruled that Couy Griffin, an Otero County commissioner, is now disqualified from holding public office because he violated Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment by participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection, as well as mobilizing others to also engage in the siege.

"He took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States ... [and then] engaged in that insurrection after taking his oath," Judge Mathew wrote.

The decision against Griffin, who made headlines earlier this year by refusing to certify his county's election results, comes after some similar, high-profile Fourteenth Amendment challenges to incumbent lawmakers across the country failed.