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Judge Won't Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging Special Session

The North Carolina Legislative Building in Raleigh. Credit: Wikimedia contributor Jayron32 for Creative Commons http://bit.ly/2nSJcMJ

A North Carolina judge says a lawsuit challenging a legislative special session last year can move forward.

The lawsuit in question challenges a special session of the North Carolina General Assembly held last December. During that session, Republicans passed bills eroding the powers of incoming Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

Common Cause and several voters sued, saying legislative leaders didn't give proper notice to citizens before holding the assembly.

Judge Osmond Smith on Tuesday refused a request by Republican legislative leaders and GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Forest to throw out the lawsuit. They say the session was properly called.

The News and Observer of Raleigh reports that the case will now be heard by a three-judge panel, which is required in lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of acts of the General Assembly.

The plaintiffs want the laws passed in that session nullified.

 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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