The dam has broken.
A NC local judge is forcing the state of North Carolina to transfer $1.7 billion to the public schools. That brings to a head the longstanding Leandro case that has been ongoing for nearly three decades. A prior judge handling the case ultimately decided to refrain from taking this extreme measure.
There is now an outcry. Some are shouting "constitutional firestorm" or "constitutional crisis". And those descriptions are justified. The decision is pure, unfettered judicial activism. It is a violation of the state constitution that gives spending authority only to the General Assembly.
There is some concern that the judge is playing right into the hands of Roy Cooper and Josh Stein, both of whom seem to have wanted this outcome and, in fact, encouraged it. The Republicans obviously don't like that.
But let's think about what has happened.
Roy Cooper extorts large amounts of monies from Duke Energy in exchange for an environmental permit, and uses the proceeds as a political slush fund. He violates the federal and state constitutions repeatedly with his response to COVID-19; and also brazenly violates public health ethics repeatedly. Crimes arguably were committed. And yet, he faced no accountability.
Josh Stein failed to defend the state of North Carolina honorably and suitably in cases brought by the left against the state or against laws passed by the General Assembly. This was his constitutional role to uphold the law. And yet he faced no accountability.
Interestingly, Mandy Cohen's DHHS helped fund this effort for the court to force massive funding of the public schools. She also has faced no accountability with her response to COVID.
All of these arguably violated their respective oaths of office.
Think back about "Broken Windows" theory and the way that crime was fought in New York City during the 1990's. If you allow the small crimes to go unpunished, bigger crimes follow. If you assert accountability when smaller crimes occur, bigger crimes will not follow.
This is precisely what has happened in North Carolina. Cooper, Stein and Cohen did not face accountability with the Republican General Assembly when they committed wrongdoing; and thus they were free to commit greater offenses.
Yes, the Republicans will complain that the media is aligned against them. That is unquestionably true. But it is no excuse.
Judge Howard Manning redux
https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/original-leandro-judge-disputes-notion-that-judges-can-force-new-education-spending/
Posted by: Fred Gregory | 11/11/2021 at 02:31 PM
Fred, great to see you commenting!
Yes, this activist judge is on thin ice. But who knows? With a socialist-controlled state Supreme Court, perhaps he will get by with it.
Posted by: Triad Conservative | 11/11/2021 at 05:04 PM