A pair of recent U.S. Supreme Court actions has opened the door to a new legal frontier in which local and state officials can be disqualified from office for life for engaging in “insurrection” or providing “aid and comfort” to enemies of the Constitution. The Supreme Court recently said states could not use the 14th Amendment to remove candidates for federal office. But in a separate case this week, it rejected an appeal from a former New Mexico county commissioner who was kicked out of office after he was convicted of trespassing during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Taken together, the actions herald a new legal landscape that could target state and local officials linked to attack on the Capitol.
