On April 18, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Totenberg refused to enjoin the state of Georgia from adjudicating whether Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene meets the Qualifications to be in Congress. Greene v Raffensperger, n.d., 1:22cv-1294. The Congresswoman is being challenged on the basis that she violated section three of the 14th amendment. Here is the 73-page opinion.
The opinion says Greene does have standing. It also says the federal court does have the authority to hear her case (the state had argued that the federal court must abstain).
But the decision says that the burden on Greene, by having to be subjected to a state administrative challenge, is not severe. It says there is no reason to expect that the process won’t be fair. The opinion also says that states do have a role in adjudicating qualifications.
The decision notes that recently, a U.S. District Court in North Carolina had ruled (in a similar case involving Congressman Madison Cawthorn) that when congress passed an amnesty bill in 1872, that also covered all future cases. The Georgia decision says that the North Carolina court ruling is mistaken. The North Carolina case is currently being appealed in the Fourth Circuit.
Greene’s name will be on the Georgia primary ballot, but if the state’s challenge process determines that she is not eligible, the voters for her won’t be counted.
