http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/no...ont-defend-transgender-law-in-court/185216305
Cause you know the ACLU about to get up in their asses
Cause you know the ACLU about to get up in their asses
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North Carolina AG Cooper won't defend transgender law in court.
- Thread starter Slayven
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Yes, yes he is.
Omegasquash
Member
Bingo.
Netherscourge
Banned
EDIT - misread the article.
this is kind of ridiculous.
AGs have broad discretion over this kind of thing. remember when the DOJ sided with plaintiffs on the DOMA challenges?
Gordon Shumway
Banned
Makes sense..
Box of Kittens
Banned
Here's another article which notes that Cooper has called the bill unconstitutional.
DA or AG nullification is definitely a thing. It's controversial, but they know it is and use it sparingly generally, all the more so if it's an elected position.
Discretion is a bit different from flat-out refusing to do your job; it's akin to the difference between "let's focus on the most dangerous drug crimes and offenders first" and "yeah, I'm not going to prosecute drug cases".
Even if I think the transgender law is pretty nasty and possibly unconstitutional, that's for courts to decide. He's a public official and shouldn't get to ignore the law when he wants to, the same way that county clerk should have been kicked out for not respecting that gay marriage was legal.
Speaking as a Georgia resident, yes it does
Nope, he has discretion on what he wants to defend or doesn't. It's nothing like Kim Davis.
The California AG did something similar, she refused to defend Proposition 8 (the one banning Gay Marriage) in Court back in 2013.
look at it like this: under current scotus precedent the law is almost certainly constitutional. it would serve the people of north carolina better for the AG to side with the plaintiffs and get the law off the books more quickly vs pursuing a long and costly litigation that he believes will inevitably end in failure.
A lot of extralegal actions would in my opinion and most liberal posters on this forum be better in the long run for the country, but that doesn't necessarily make it right to do.
I have confidence that the courts will strike the law down, but I don't see it being acceptable to ignore whichever laws you want to selectively without repercussions.
The irony/hypocrisy there. every part of that statement (well except left should be replaced with right and the offices in question and aclu but you get what i mean) applies directly to himself
Orbis Tabula
Member
I believe some states do give the AG the authority to decide if they want to defend a case or not, while some states compel them to. Not sure which type of state NC is. If he is able to refuse, I'm sure that the state will hire someone else to defend it. I think the parallel to Kim Davis is weak, as able a court ordered her to do something, and she refused to do it, and she also refused to let others do it in her stead.
Who's ignoring the law?
Shake Appeal
Member
He's probably Democrats' best shot of taking back a governor's mansion in November. At least having a veto here would slow down Republicans legislators' plans to dismantle education, drive out business, and tank the state.
same
the law also governs the rights and duties of the attorney general of north carolina. this is within the scope of the position that he was elected to fill.
if you don't like this you should move to NC and advocate for a constitutional amendment stripping the AG's discretionary powers in situations like this. as of right now he's doing nothing wrong.
n00bsauce87
Member
Question: Is the AG for North Carolina an elected position?
If so, I can imagine that the AG has even more power to not defend it. You can't fire him. Would it be the only way to get rid of him (sans election) is to impeach him?
He's betting that the citizens aren't going to get rid him and that he's on the right side of history.
How 'purple' is North Carolina?
If so, I can imagine that the AG has even more power to not defend it. You can't fire him. Would it be the only way to get rid of him (sans election) is to impeach him?
He's betting that the citizens aren't going to get rid him and that he's on the right side of history.
How 'purple' is North Carolina?
Yes. Yes. Running for governor. Voted Obama in 2008
He is now.
He isn't ignoring laws. He's choosing to not defend the law when it's challenged in court. There's a pretty big difference there.
Since he thinks it's unconstitutional, nobody is going to want him defending it anyway.
Brian Griffin
Member
What's fucking infuriating about these shit laws is that they always use this line but the laws actually mandate that trans men change in women's locker rooms. This level of ignorance should disqualify someone from political office.
Damn straight.
It's time to kick out these morons who seem determined to set our state back half a century.
He's been planning a run for over a year.
Very. Last two presidential elections have been tight.
Urban/rural division is severe.
While I'm happy he isn't defending the shitty law, I'm a bit conflicted and see it as being akin to a big chunk of the current do nothing Congress and that woman who wouldn't marry same-sex couples. Discretion is one thing not doing parts of your job is another. I hope the law can be overturned as unconstitutional quickly, and I'm on his side in theory, but I still don't like politicians choosing to not do the duties they were voted into office to do.
EDIT - oh he just isn't going to defend the law when challenged in court? I misunderstood. Move along. Nothing to see here.
EDIT - oh he just isn't going to defend the law when challenged in court? I misunderstood. Move along. Nothing to see here.
choosing to not defend an unconstitutional law is one of the duties he was voted into office to do. it's in his job description.
By design, his job as an attorney is to pick the cases he thinks he can win and take them on, much like law enforcement can prioritize crimes to where they think they will make the most impact. If he sincerely believes this defense to be a waste of time and resources, and that it is indefensible, then it is his responsibility to not defend it. That's his job as attorney general.
The county clerk does not get to pick and choose which marriage licenses she signs by design, her job is to sign all licenses.
they actually tried to get charlotte to foot the bill for their special session claiming we brought it upon ourselves
bunch of bullshit
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
Is this the South being the South or their get out the vote campaign for Republicans or both?
rokkerkory
Member
How in the world can our country in 2016 be this ass backwards?
These people don't have real laws to vet and pass?
These people don't have real laws to vet and pass?
TheLostBigBoss
Banned
Because our country is extremely large and has major division in ideology based on different regions (not to mention urban/rural divide you see in almost every state at this point) as well as the whole "state' thing.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
so then the house will allocate money to pay outside counsel (i.e. spend potentially a million dollars or more to pay a conservative law firm), and then when they lose and the law is found discriminatory, taxpayers (including LBGT taxpayers) will pay the bill! yay!
GurgleBot20
Member
Definitely a win for the conservatives, and then they can continue to claim that it's poor people and illegal immigrants that are wasting their taxes.
rokkerkory
Member
our country was founded on inclusiveness, just look at bill of rights.
how this kinda crap even gets on the ballot baffles me
Randolph Freelander
Member
No dem's voted for this. They walked out in protest.
Geez I didn't even realize that. Blah I was hoping all the dems would have walked out on it.
Poltergust
Member
That was the state Senate. Some House dems (I think a dozen or so) voted for it.
Grover Cleveland
Member
This bullshit ass law is going to get thrown out in court and the same folks running through taxpayer dollars to protect it will be back complaining about wasteful government spending in a few months.
I wonder how they're going to fund it. Maybe they'll get police officers to pretend to give a shit about people speeding, oh wait.
Looking at this from a different perspective, I know this bill is being presented as an anti-LGBT bill in the mainstream national media (and quite rightly), but it is interesting to look it at the language of the bill that specifically outlaws the cities of North Carolina from passing local ordinances to override its provisions as a question of state-level devolution (power centralized in the state government vs deferred to the individual cities). We're essentially seeing ideological warfare between the politicians from very Conservative rural districts (which is most of the state by land area) and the state's largest cities (the Charlotte, Triangle, and Triad metropolitan areas take up almost 50% of the state's population).
I imagine we will see more and more conflicts like this between Conservative state governments and increasingly progressive urban centers especially in the South.
I wonder how they're going to fund it. Maybe they'll get police officers to pretend to give a shit about people speeding, oh wait.
Looking at this from a different perspective, I know this bill is being presented as an anti-LGBT bill in the mainstream national media (and quite rightly), but it is interesting to look it at the language of the bill that specifically outlaws the cities of North Carolina from passing local ordinances to override its provisions as a question of state-level devolution (power centralized in the state government vs deferred to the individual cities). We're essentially seeing ideological warfare between the politicians from very Conservative rural districts (which is most of the state by land area) and the state's largest cities (the Charlotte, Triangle, and Triad metropolitan areas take up almost 50% of the state's population).
I imagine we will see more and more conflicts like this between Conservative state governments and increasingly progressive urban centers especially in the South.
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