Cooper loses another round in separation of powers fight
Published November 9, 2017
by Travis Fain, WRAL, November 7, 2017.
The state Court of Appeals sided with Republican General Assembly leaders Tuesday, agreeing that a 2016 law requiring legislative approval of the governor's top appointments is constitutional.
The matter, one of several separation of powers issues over which Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has sparred with the GOP majority since before he even took office, will head to the state Supreme Court for further argument. Cooper promised as much Tuesday morning, saying he was unsurprised by the ruling from a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeals.
"With the makeup of this three-judge panel, we fully expected this result," Cooper said. "They basically kicked it upstairs to the Supreme Court."
Cooper said he based his comment on the panel's makeup on the questions judges asked in court, but all three judges on this decision are registered Republicans.
This is Cooper's second loss in this particular case, since a panel of three Superior Court judges also agreed the General Assembly can require Senate confirmation for the governor's appointed heads of principal state departments. The GOP majority passed that law after Cooper beat former Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, in the 2016 election.
Cooper argued that the change cut too deeply into the power of the executive branch. The judges disagreed, saying Cooper failed to meet the high burden required for the court to throw out a law passed by the General Assembly. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore issued a joint statement after Tuesday's ruling calling on the governor to drop his suit.
"It is in the people’s interest for their elected representatives to conduct a fair, constitutional and transparent review of the governor’s cabinet secretaries," they said. "Gov. Cooper has no legal grounds to continue his pursuit of unchecked power and should quit wasting taxpayer money on divisive, baseless and self-serving lawsuits."
In an earlier, similar case the courts determined that the governor should be able to make his own appointments to a trio of commissions, but those commissions hold final executive authority and Cooper needs control of them to "perform his constitutional duty to faithfully execute laws."
"That is not present here," the Court of Appeals judges said in their opinion Tuesday.
The two sides are also involved in litigation over the makeup of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, the size of the Court of Appeals and budgetary moves the legislature made this year.
http://www.wral.com/cooper-loses-another-round-in-separation-of-powers-fight/17097199/
November 10, 2017 at 10:00 am
Norm Kelly says:
When Republicans lose a court case, and decide to move it up the chain, media allies come out of the woodwork to express disdain. Media allies expound endlessly on how it's a waste of time, a waste of money, and 'how many times can the court decide against you before you realize you are a loser'. But when one of theirs takes a hit in court, is there any such comment? Nope, because libs must defend their own.
Roy lied about this being a one issue campaign. Roy lied to the legislature about having an agreement in place about lettered people. Roy lied to the citizens of NC when he claimed there was an agreement on how to provide special treatment to people who insisted on having letters surround their names, and who identify more as their letter choice than any other aspect of their lives.
When is it appropriate for Roy to concede defeat? How about after the second loss? Republicans were berated by demons and their allies for not giving in when a court decided voting districts were illegal. No matter how outrageous demon/lib claims are about Republican laws, allies simply carry water for them.
I'm disgusted by demons/libs but especially disgusted by their oh-so-obvious allies who too often refuse to say/write anything that MIGHT make their allies look bad. Did Hildabeast break the law? Yes, multiple times, multiple laws? Did Trump collude with Russians? Not a single lib/ally has been able to show ANY proof; when questioned every lib has stated there is NO evidence. Yet, media allies report constantly on Trump collusion, and report virtually not at all about the mounting evidence against Bill, Hildaliar, Obummer, Loretta, and the rest of the corrupt libs in Washington.
Am I surprised? No. Disgusted? Yes. Tired of being lied to? Yes. Waiting for something to change? Yes, but not holding my breath.
