This will be a quick diary-- I just wanted to get the news out.
North Carolina's Attorney General is Roy Cooper, a Democrat whom we hope will be our gubernatorial nominee in 2016 to defeat Pat McCrory.
Today following the 4th Circuit ruling in a Virginia case, Cooper stated the North Carolina will no longer defend it's odious recent amendment to the State Constitution--the one that states that marriage can only take place between a man and a woman.
Specifically, according to WRAL news,
Following a federal appeals court ruling Monday that Virginia's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said his office would no longer oppose challenges to the state's constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage.
Read more at http://www.wral.com/...
Cooper stated,
"It's time to stop making arguments we will lose and instead move forward, knowing that the ultimate resolution will likely come from the United States Supreme Court," he said.
Read more at http://www.wral.com/...
Cooper insisted that his decision was based upon law, not his personal opinion:
Cooper has spoken out previously against North Carolina's amendment, but he said the decision Monday not to continue fighting to uphold it was based solely on the legal merits of the case and was separate from his personal opinion.
Read more at http://www.wral.com/....
However, we can't break out the champagne yet. This awful Republican legislature, anticipating Cooper's stand, has passed a law stating that if he decides not to pursue a case they want, they can hire their own attorneys:
Lawmakers passed legislation last year that gives Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis the authority to intervene and hire lawyers to defend state laws whenever the Attorney General's Office declines to do so.
Read more at http://www.wral.com/...
Here's hoping that this motivates the Democratic base in North Carolina this fall. We need Kay Hagan in the Senate, we need Robin Hudson on the state's Supreme Court, and we need to start chipping away at the Republican majority in the state legislature.