The Arizona Supreme Court has rejected what Congressman Andy Biggs and others have described as a “frivolous” lawsuit that constituted little more than “political harassment,” that aimed to keep him, Congressman Paul Gosar, and Arizona State Representative Mark Finchem off the ballot.
The group, Free Speech for People, wanted to punish Biggs, Gosar, and Finchem for exercising their free speech rights. The group alleged, but offered no evidence in support, that the three lawmakers participated in or helped organize the January 6, 2021 rally in Washington, D.C., and that their alleged participation should bar them from the ballot under a Civil War-era provision of the U.S. Constitution that says any public official who participates in an insurrection cannot hold office.
The court found that the Constitution gives Congress the exclusive authority to enforce that provision.
The group also lost similar cases against Republican Representatives Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.