North Carolina one step to the right(my title)

EMAIL from NC Republican party | Feb 15 | NC Republican party

[Baseballguy]

NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY

1410 Hillsborough St.

Raleigh, North Carolina 27605

Tele. (919) 828-6423 Fax. (919) 899-3815

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 15, 2002

Legislative Districts Ruled Unconstitutional

SMITHFIELD — In a huge victory for the voters of North Carolina, Superior Court Judge Knox V. Jenkins, Jr. ruled today that the legislative districts adopted by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly are unconstitutional.

Several plaintiffs, including State Republican Party Chairman Bill Cobey and Republican Minority Leaders Rep. Leo Daughtry and Sen. Patrick Ballantine brought the lawsuit in November after the General Assembly adopted legislative redistricting maps that violated the state constitution by breaking county lines. The North Carolina Constitution states that no county shall be divided in the formation of a Senate or House District. The maps would have all but guaranteed a Democrat majority in the General Assembly for the next ten years.

Judge Jenkins said during the hearing that the N.C. General Assembly violated the N.C. Constitution when it drew the state House and Senate districts. He said the N.C. courts have the ability and responsibility to interpret N.C. law, including the N.C. Constitution. The judge also made it clear during his ruling that the facts were not in question: “The issue before me now is an issue of law,” he told the parties.

The ruling is a setback for the Democrat-controlled General Assembly and Democrat Attorney General Roy Cooper, representing the defendants. Tom Farr, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs emphasized the need to rein in the excesses of the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, stating during the argument before the court “The legislature thinks it is king; it thinks it can do whatever it wants.”

The court ruled today that legislators do not have unfettered discretion in the formation of pro-incumbent legislative districts. “By his ruling today, Judge Jenkins has informed the Democrat leadership of the General Assembly that the North Carolina Constitution is alive and well and relevant,” said Bill Cobey.

There will be a hearing next Wednesday, February 20, for the judge to consider the various remedies he now has before him. The judge has said he has concerns and reservations about stopping this year’s elections, though that is a remedy he will consider.

Harking back to November when the redistricting lawsuit was filed, Democrat state Sen. Brad Miller of Raleigh, chairman of the Senate committee that drew the now-unconstitutional Senate districts and prospective candidate for North Carolina’s new 13th Congressional District, which he also played an instrumental part in designing, said the lawsuit was “a 25-page press release with a court caption on top of it,” and that “The pleadings are a partisan diatribe. The allegations are frivolous on their face.”

“In light of Judge Jenkins’ ruling today, it would seem that the Democrats know as much about the law as they do about balancing the budget,” said Bill Cobey, Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party.

The state budget, passed after a marathon session late last year, faces an estimated $900 million deficit just a few months later.

For more information, please contact Bill Peaslee or Jonathan Jordan at (919) 828-6423.

[Baseballguy]

I was worried this would not go this way. What a relief.

[Free the USA]

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