A federal judge approved an effort by a group of Georgia voters seeking to disqualify Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from running for re-election on Monday.
The judge, Amy Totenberg, denied Greene’s request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order against the voters, The New York Times reported. In a 73-page ruling, Totenberg said Greene did not meet the “burden of persuasion” in her injunctive relief.
The group, represented by the nonpartisan Free Speech for People, has cited Greene’s alleged involvement in the January 6 Capitol riot, The New York Times reported. The disqualification effort is based on a post-Civil War era constitutional provision that prohibited members of the Confederacy from holding office.
“This case involves a whirlpool of colliding constitutional interests of public import,” the ruling said. “The novelty of the factual and historical posture of this case—especially when assessed in the context of a preliminary injunction motion reviewed on a fast track—has made resolution of the complex legal issues at stake here particularly demanding.” (RELATED: Jan. 6 Committee Issues First Subpoenas To Four Trump Aides, Allies)
Totenberg was appointed by former President Barack Obama to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District for Georgia, according to The New York Times.
BREAKING: We just won a federal court ruling in Atlanta allowing Georgia voters to challenge Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as disqualified under Sect. 3 of the 14th Amendment, the Insurrectionist Disqualification Clause. @FSFPhttps://t.co/MibiEGzreU via @FSFP
— John Bonifaz (@JohnBonifaz) April 19, 2022
Greene’s lawyer, James Bopp Jr, called the ruling “fundamentally antidemocratic” and claimed Greene had condemned the riots, the outlet reported. He said the effort strips voters of the right to vote for the candidate of their choice.
Ron Fein, the legal director for Free Speech for People, celebrated Totenberg’s decision. He said the group will question Greene on the Jan. 6 riots at an upcoming Friday hearing.
“Judge Totenberg’s well-reasoned opinion explains why the Georgia voters who filed this challenge against Greene have the right to have their challenge heard, and why none of Greene’s objections to the Georgia state challenge have any merit,” he said. “At the hearing on Friday, we look forward to questioning Greene under oath about her involvement in the events of Jan. 6, and to demonstrating how her facilitation of the insurrection disqualifies her from public office under the United States Constitution.”
A judge blocked Free Speech for People’s effort to disqualify Republican North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn from the state’s ballot in March. In that decision, U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers said the disqualification provision barely applied to the Confederacy after the Civil War, The New York Times reported.