ThLunarian
Member
Quoting from State Senator Jeff Jackson's Facebook page:
"You should know what just happened to our Court of Appeals, because it's nuts.
Our Court of Appeals has 15 judges. We just passed a law to shrink it to 12. Why? Because three of them are hitting the age of mandatory retirement soon and Gov. Cooper would be allowed to appoint their replacements.
That's it. That's the whole reason.
There was abundant evidence presented to the legislature that the Court of Appeals has a heavy workload and this bill will slow down the disposition of justice in our state, but the bill was quickly passed despite these warnings.
Notably, the last four Chief Justices of our state Supreme Court Justices - a bipartisan group - all strongly opposed the effort.
Here's the most remarkable part: The move was so extreme that it compelled one of our judges on the Court of Appeals who was approaching mandatory retirement - and is a conservative Republican - to resign his seat in protest of the law and thereby allow Gov. Cooper to appoint a replacement.
As he said, I did not want my legacy to be the elimination of a seat and the impairment of a court that I have served on."
Gov. Cooper vetoed the bill, but the veto was overridden by the GOP supermajorities that currently exist in both chambers. It's now law.
What can we do? Only one thing: pick up three seats in the House or six seats in the Senate, break the supermajority, unlock Gov. Cooper's veto, and restore political balance in our state."
Absolutely insane. I hope North Carolina is one of the first states where Obama directs his efforts to take back state legislatures and fight gerrymandering.
"You should know what just happened to our Court of Appeals, because it's nuts.
Our Court of Appeals has 15 judges. We just passed a law to shrink it to 12. Why? Because three of them are hitting the age of mandatory retirement soon and Gov. Cooper would be allowed to appoint their replacements.
That's it. That's the whole reason.
There was abundant evidence presented to the legislature that the Court of Appeals has a heavy workload and this bill will slow down the disposition of justice in our state, but the bill was quickly passed despite these warnings.
Notably, the last four Chief Justices of our state Supreme Court Justices - a bipartisan group - all strongly opposed the effort.
Here's the most remarkable part: The move was so extreme that it compelled one of our judges on the Court of Appeals who was approaching mandatory retirement - and is a conservative Republican - to resign his seat in protest of the law and thereby allow Gov. Cooper to appoint a replacement.
As he said, I did not want my legacy to be the elimination of a seat and the impairment of a court that I have served on."
Gov. Cooper vetoed the bill, but the veto was overridden by the GOP supermajorities that currently exist in both chambers. It's now law.
What can we do? Only one thing: pick up three seats in the House or six seats in the Senate, break the supermajority, unlock Gov. Cooper's veto, and restore political balance in our state."
Absolutely insane. I hope North Carolina is one of the first states where Obama directs his efforts to take back state legislatures and fight gerrymandering.