Legislators seek to force AG's office to defend local acts
Republican House and Senate leaders are backing a proposal that would require the state Attorney General's Office to defend local acts challenged in court.
Posted — UpdatedThe provision is part of a gut-and-amend of Senate Bill 667, now titled Omnibus Elections Changes. It was introduced in House Elections committee early Thursday morning.
Local acts are legislative measures that apply directly to local governments in fewer than 15 counties. They are not subject to the governor's approval.
"We’ve had a couple of cases where local bills have been attacked, and no one had standing to defend who cared," Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam, R-Wake, told the committee. "It’s really unusual in court to disallow people who care about something to have any representation, but that’s what happened twice."
"This is saying at least the AG will have standing to defend," Stam said. "You don’t get a very good result in an adversarial system when one side is represented and the other side is not."
However, the proposal goes beyond giving the Attorney General's Office standing, noted Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford.
"It looks like it forces the AG’s Office to defend what he or she might perceive as unconstitutional statute," said Harrison. "I’ve just got some problem with forcing the AG to defend what he or she perceives to be unconstitutional."
"We already have a statute requiring him to defend state laws that are attacked," Stam responded. "Not to get too political, but he has refused."
In July 2015, after the hearing on the Greensboro maps, map sponsor Sen. Trudy Wade, R-Guilford, criticized Attorney General Roy Cooper for not defending the legislation. At the time, Cooper spokeswoman Samantha Cole said the Attorney General's Office had advised lawmakers that they would need to defend the map themselves because the defendant in that lawsuit was the Guilford County Board of Elections, not the state.
Harrison had prepared an amendment to strike the section but withdrew it after committee chairman Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, told the committee that the bill "is essentially a pre-conference bill with the Senate."
The bill passed the committee on a strict party-line vote, 20 to 9. It passed the House Thursday night, 73 to 40, and is now headed back to the Senate for a final vote.
Asked for comment, Attorney General spokeswoman Samantha Cole responded, "Our office will continue its work defending state law when the state is a party, and will work diligently to carry out this responsibility. We are reviewing the provision, and it appears the new law will expand the number of cases assigned to the Attorney General’s Office."
Cole pointed out that the AG's office has defended "a number of" constitutional challenges, including cases against abortion restrictions, vouchers, voter ID, teacher tenure, NCAE dues, Planned Parenthood funding, the Asheville water system, the Charlotte airport, and three redistricting cases.
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.