Five former North Carolina governors back Stein in separation-of-powers cases
The bipartisan group is asking the state Supreme Court to decide constitutional disputes over executive commissions and judicial appointments on their merits.
RALEIGH — North Carolina’s five living former governors are asking the state Supreme Court to consider the merits of constitutional challenges over the General Assembly’s power to restructure executive commissions and restrict gubernatorial appointments.
Former governors Jim Martin, Mike Easley, Bev Perdue, Pat McCrory and Roy Cooper filed a motion Sept. 9 seeking permission to submit a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Gov. Josh Stein.
The group includes two Republicans and three Democrats. Its proposed filing concerns two cases involving the division of authority between the executive and legislative branches.
In one dispute, Stein challenges statutory changes affecting appointments to the Environmental Management Commission, Coastal Resources Commission, Wildlife Resources Commission and Utilities Commission. The litigation also addresses the structures of the Residential Code Council and Building Code Council.
Stein argues that the challenged arrangements deny an executive official sufficient control over bodies responsible for carrying out state law. Legislative leaders dispute the governor’s interpretation and have raised arguments concerning whether the dispute presents a political question for the courts.
The former governors’ motion urges the Supreme Court to decide the constitutional questions instead of treating them as matters left exclusively to the political branches.
Their motion says their experience serving as the state’s chief executive gives them a shared interest in preserving the constitutional authority of the governor’s office. It characterizes that interest as nonpartisan despite the former governors’ different party affiliations.
A related challenge concerns a 2024 law restricting the governor’s choices when filling vacancies on the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. UNC law professors John Orth and Charles Plambeck have also sought to participate as friends of the court, arguing that the state constitution gives the governor authority to fill those appellate vacancies.
The litigation could determine how far lawmakers may go in assigning appointment authority to legislative leaders or other statewide elected officials. Its outcome could also affect the governor’s control over commissions that make decisions involving utilities, environmental rules, wildlife management and building regulation.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the cases Nov. 10. The filing of an amicus brief does not make the former governors parties to the litigation and does not determine how the court will rule.
Editor’s note:
This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
