Couy Griffin removed from Otero County Commission, disqualified from holding further office
Couy Griffin is no longer the District 2 Otero County Commissioner per a ruling by District Judge Francis Mathew.
In his ruling on the case, Mathew contended that Griffin was not eligible to hold office because of his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
"(Griffin) became constitutionally disqualified from federal and state positions specified (under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, Section 3) and forfeited his current office as Otero County Commissioner effective Jan. 6, 2021," Mathew's ruling states. "Griffin shall be removed from his position as an Otero County Commissioner effective immediately."
Attempts by the Alamogordo Daily News to contact Griffin about the ruling were unsuccessful.
In considering closing arguments submitted by Griffin in the case asking Mathew to consider the will of District 2 constituents, the judge said: "The irony of Mr. Griffin's argument that this Court should refrain from applying the law and consider the will of the people in District 2 of Otero County who retained him as a county commissioner against a recall effort as he attempts to defend his participation in an insurrection by a mob whose goal, by his own admission, was to set aside the results of a free, fair and lawful election by a majority of the people of the entire country (the will of the people) has not escaped this court."
The ruling also states that although the plaintiffs in the case presented evidence to support their claim, Griffin did not present any evidence for his defense.
"His protestations and his characterizations of his actions and the events of Jan. 6, 2021 are not credible and amounted to nothing more than attempting to put lipstick on a pig," Mathew's ruling states.
Griffin was removed from office under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment's Disqualification Clause, which states that an elected official may be removed from their position for acts against the government, including insurrection which some experts have labeled the events of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
The quo warranto complaint asking for Griffin's removal from office was filed by Marco White on Santa Fe County, Mark Mitchell of Los Alamos County and Leslie Lakind of Santa Fe County. By New Mexico state law, any New Mexican can file to have any New Mexico county official removed from office.
White, Mitchell and Lakind were represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the New Mexico-based law firms of Freedman Boyd Hollander and Goldberg P.A, Dodd Law Office, LLC, and the Law Office of Amber Fayerberg, LLC, as well as by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.
“January 6, 2021 was a dark day in our history. The court’s ruling today is a historic moment for our country. Mr. Griffin’s removal and bar from holding office again is a step towards obtaining justice and restoring the rule of law,” Dodd Law Office, LLC President Christopher Dodd said in a Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington news release.
The three New Mexicans were not the only ones who expressed interest in removing Griffin from office.
The NAACP, Common Cause and the National Council of Jewish Women submitted amicus briefs stating their support for Griffin's removal as an Otero County Commissioner.
“Judge Mathew’s decision is a signal to elected officials everywhere who want to snub their noses at the constitution, foment mob violence and disobey the law,” said Mario Jimenez, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, in a news release. “Our elected officials – and candidates—must obey the law. They are not above it. That’s the very essence of democracy, and this ruling affirms it.”
Jimenez added that Common Cause hoped the ruling would set a precedent for other elected officials who "disregard their oath of office."
The ruling can be appealed.
Griffin was arrested on Jan. 8, 2021 and charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building relating to his participation in the Capitol riot.
He was found guilty of the charge at a federal district court hearing on March 22 and sentenced on June 17 to 14 days of time served and ordered to pay $500 in restitution, a $3,000 fine and complete community service and one year of supervised release.
Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Couy Griffin removed from District 2 Otero County Commissioner seat
