Lt. Gov. Dan Forest plans to sue NC Gov. Roy Cooper over coronavirus executive orders
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest announced Thursday in a Facebook post that he plans to file a lawsuit against Gov. Roy Cooper.
“Today, I notified Governor Cooper that, as a member of the Council of State, I will be suing his administration for violating the Emergency Management Act,” the post said. “The Governor has repeatedly ignored the law, enacting mandates that selectively target the businesses and citizens of North Carolina without concurrence from a majority of the Council of State.”
Forest added that before he officially files the suit, Cooper is required by law to approve his use of independent legal counsel.
“State agencies in North Carolina are required to use the Attorney General’s office to file lawsuits or else get an exception from the Governor,” Forest continued. “As the Attorney General has been responsible for drafting the unlawful Executive Orders I’m challenging, I have decided the only path forward is with independent counsel.”
During a press conference on Wednesday, Cooper announced he is extending Phase Two of the state’s reopening until July 17. It was scheduled to expire on June 26. Cooper also issued a statewide mandate requiring the use of masks or face coverings.
There were 1,009 new cases reported Thursday by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services after it reported 1,721 cases on Wednesday, which was the second-highest total during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under Cooper’s Phase Two, bars and gyms are not allowed to reopen. In a press release, Ashley Smith, co-founder of ReOpenNC, a Facebook group with more than 7,000 members, said business owners have suffered since the governor closed businesses in March due to COVID-19.
“We demand they dissolve the Executive Orders immediately,” Smith wrote in the press release. “And that Cooper step aside so that business owners can access their property to conduct business in full and to protect the fruits of their labor.”
Cooper issued a stay-at-home order on March 27, closing non-essential businesses. In a letter to Cooper, Forest claimed the governor “did not seek nor receive concurrence of the Council of State for this order.”
In the letter, Forest also wrote that exercising these orders without concurrence of the Council of State makes it impossible to fulfill oaths to uphold the laws of North Carolina. The Council of State is made up of elected officials that include the attorney general, commissioners of agriculture and insurance, secretary of state, secretary of labor, the state’s auditor and treasurer and the superintendent of public instruction.
Forest’s letter ends with a request for Cooper to respond by 4 p.m. Thursday.
