Judicial Watch: Constitutional Ruling Put on Hold
As expected, a state Court of Appeals panel has granted legislative Republicans’ request to delay a lower court’s ruling throwing out last fall’s voter-approved constitutional amendments requiring voter ID and a lower cap on the income tax rate.
Announced last week, the appellate ruling stays Wake County Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins’ decision that the two amendments are void. Judge Collins ruled that because the legislature which put the proposed amendments on the ballot was elected from unconstitutional districts, it had no authority to initiate constitutional amendments.
The appellate panel will consider in a subsequent hearing whether to overrule Collins altogether. No matter what that court decides, its decision is expected to ultimately be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Last year, NCLCV joined other citizen advocacy groups in opposing both of the amendments under dispute in this case. Attorneys with the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) are among those representing the state NAACP, Clean Air Carolina, and other groups challenging the adopted amendments in court.
NCLCV is also part of a broad coalition seeking to end gerrymandering once and for all. With a legislature elected from fair districts, Collins’ ruling would never have been necessary to begin with. And those amendments would likely never have been put on the ballot. Speaking of which….
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