A federal appeals court ordered a lower court on Thursday to dismiss Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s (R-GA) lawsuit challenging her candidacy based on a so-called insurrection clause of the 14th Amendment, contending the legal challenge was “moot.”
A group of Georgia constituents argued in March that Greene was ineligible to run for office under the clause by claiming she had engaged in “insurrection” conduct due to her involvement with former President Donald Trump‘s “Stop the Steal” efforts ahead of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
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Greene filed a lawsuit in district court against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, in response to the voters’ challenge and asked the court to block the state from considering it, claiming that the Georgia statute allowing such challenges was unconstitutional. The district court rejected Greene’s request, prompting her to appeal.
The lawsuit against Greene was rejected by a state administrative law judge, ruling that Greene did not engage in the riot at the Capitol and was therefore eligible to be on the ballot. The ruling was affirmed by Raffensperger, and the Fulton County Superior Court also affirmed his adoption of it, while the state Supreme Court opted to not review the superior court’s ruling.
The lawsuit became moot because Greene’s appeal was still pending, the appeals court said Thursday. The court remanded the case to the district court and said it should be dismissed.
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“Ultimately, Rep. Greene was not disqualified from being a candidate for Congress and is presently on the ballot for the upcoming election,” the court said. “Accordingly, we no longer have the ability to accord Rep. Greene meaningful relief.”
A similar legal challenge was brought against Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), but a judge blocked a group of voters who sought to bar him from running for office in early March. Cawthorn lost his primary race against Republican state Sen. Chuck Edwards in May.
