Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury./photp Maricopa Superior Court
By Robert Anglen | Arizona Republic
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the rights of three Arizona Republicans to run for office over their participation in rallies that led to the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
A voting rights group sued U.S. Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar and state Rep. Mark Finchem, claiming their participation in an insurrection and their efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential results makes them ineligible for reelection.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury rejected arguments that a 150-year-old law adopted after the Civil War could be used to disqualify the Arizona lawmakers and keep their names off the 2022 ballot.
Coury said the disqualification clause tied to the 14th Amendment does not allow a private citizen to sue to prevent a candidate from running for office.
“Congress has not created a private right of action to allow a citizen to enforce the Disqualification Cause by having a person declared to be ‘not qualified’ to hold public office,” Coury wrote in his 19-page ruling.
Coury said Congress is considering legislation introduced in 2021 to enforce the clause, but he noted it would allow only the U.S. attorney general to file a civil action in federal court, not a private party in state court.
The ruling was made public on Friday.
Lawyers for Biggs, Gosar and Finchem told the judge at a hearing on Wednesday only Congress had the authority to invoke the law, which blocked those who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from seeking office.
They argued none of the lawmakers has been charged with a crime related to Jan. 6. and their rhetoric about the election is protected speech.
“Attempts to subvert the existing structure of government cannot, in and of themselves, become a crime,” said Alexander Kolodin, who represents Gosar. “It is absurd to claim that a sitting member of the United States Congress advocated for the overthrow of the United States government.”
Kory Langhofer, who represents Biggs, said claims that the lawmakers broke the law were sensationalist.
“Planning a rally and planning an insurrection are very different things,” he said.
The lawsuits, filed by a handful of Arizona voters working with the group Free Speech for People, are part of a multistate effort targeting far-right lawmakers who they say sought to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden as president.
Separate lawsuits against U.S. Reps. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., accused them of participating in Jan. 6 in an effort to overturn the election and restore Donald Trump to the White House.
