ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Gov.-elect Josh Stein filed a lawsuit Thursday to block a Republican-led law they said violates the separation of powers established in the state Constitution.
Stein, who currently serves as attorney general, and Cooper argue that the portion of the law (Page 52 of 132) making the Highway Patrol its own department, with a commander appointed by the GOP-controlled legislature, is unconstitutional.
The challenged provisions are part of Senate Bill 382, which was enacted over Cooper’s veto. The language in that bill was introduced just days after the 2024 elections and included several provisions that undermine the results of the election by stripping powers from the newly elected governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and state superintendent of public instruction, Cooper and Stein argued. The bill also contains a variety of provisions that violate the separation of powers and unconstitutionally reduce executive power.
“It’s fundamental to our constitution that the legislature can not both make the laws and then choose the leaders who enforce them,” Cooper said in a news release. “Breaking the executive branch chain of command in law enforcement or any other executive branch agency is unconstitutional and it weakens our ability to respond to emergencies and keep the public safe.”
The lawsuit argues that Senate Bill 382 violates the constitution by identifying a single person who must “serve as the Commander of the State Highway Patrol until July 1, 2025” and then serve for the five-year term that begins on July 1, 2025. According to the statute, that person cannot be removed by the governor or anyone else for any reason.
As the complaint explains “Governor Cooper and Governor-Elect Stein seek to safeguard the people of North Carolina from threats to their public safety and to the people’s assignment of core executive responsibilities to their chief executive.” Senate Bill 382 is a “direct infringement on the Governor’s law enforcement powers in plain violation of our Constitution.”
“Gov. Cooper and I have taken legal action to stop the legislature’s unconstitutional and dangerous power grab. This law threatens public safety, fractures the chain of command during a crisis, and thwarts the will of voters. Our people deserve better than a power-hungry legislature that puts political games ahead of public safety,” Stein said in a statement.
Read the complaint here.
Read Senate Bill 382 here.