The Justice Department promised a lawsuit over the bathroom debate — and [yesterday], it got one! There’s just one twist: the federal government isn’t the plaintiff — North Carolina is! After mulling it over, Governor Pat McCrory (R-N.C.) decided to go on the offensive in the showdown with the Obama administration over the state’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (H.B. 2).

Late last week, the DOJ tried to force the governor’s hand with its usual scare tactics: financial blackmail. This time, the agency vowed to pull the plug on the state’s federal funding unless it agreed to stop enforcing a popular law that passed overwhelmingly in the legislature. And, to add insult to injury, the government gave them less than a week to do it! Using a staple of the Left, the Obama administration is finding new meaning to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Justice Department is accusing North Carolina of engaging in “a pattern or practice of discrimination with its employees,” which it claims violates the 50-year-old Act’s Title VII. Legal experts like Ed Whelan and David French would have laughed at the suggestion if it weren’t such a serious controversy.

“Even on the assumption that Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity [which it doesn’t], H.B. 2 clearly does not discriminate on the basis of gender identity. Rather, it is the Obama administration’s position in favor of transgender access to bathrooms and showers that discriminates (explicitly so) on the basis of gender identity. The Obama administration’s confused conception of discrimination on the basis of gender identity collapses into incoherence, as its transgender illogic would disallow any system of single-sex facilities to survive, even the system of transgender-modified facilities that it favors. Neither of the two decisions that the DOJ letter cites supports its claim, and the analysis in the second decision — the recent Fourth Circuit ruling on transgender bathroom access — would defeat DOJ’s claim.”

Like the entire transgender bathroom debate, the Justice Department’s argument isn’t rooted in reality. Nothing in the 1964 law could even mildly be construed as a ban on biologically-based bathrooms. “It’s the federal government being a bully,” McCrory said matter-of-factly. “It’s making law.” Given the tight turnaround, the governor did ask for an extension of the deadline, which was [yesterday]. [O]n “Fox News Sunday,” he explained how the government replied. “They gave the ninth largest state in the United States… three working days to respond to a pretty complex letter and to a pretty big threat,” McCrory said. “Well, we don’t think three working days is enough to respond to such a threat.” “Did they respond…?” Chris Wallace asked. “Yes,” McCrory replied. “They said, no, unless we will give you a one-week extension if the governor admits publicly that the ruling that their language regarding bathrooms does, in fact, discriminate. Well, I’m not going to publicly announce that something discriminates, which is agreeing with their letter because we’re really talking about a letter in which they’re trying to define gender identity. And there is no clear identification or definition of gender identity.”

In a statement about the lawsuit [yesterday], the governor made it clear that he’s not just fighting for North Carolina — he’s fighting for every state. “The Obama administration is bypassing Congress by attempting to rewrite the law and set restroom policies for public and private employers across the country, not just North Carolina. This is now a national issue that applies to every state, and it needs to be resolved at the federal level. They are now telling every government agency and every company that employs more than 15 people that men should be allowed to use a women’s locker room, restroom, or shower facility.” Like us, he’s also calling on Congress to bring some clarity to the debate. We applaud Governor McCrory for his political courage and moral clarity in resisting the overreach of the Obama administration. If the White House can dictate the policies of the bathrooms of America, is anything beyond its reach?

Originally published here.

Objections Sustained! Alabama Suspends Chief Justice

Alabama’s Chief Justice Roy Moore is probably one of the few judges who’s been cross-examined as much as his witnesses. The unapologetic constitutionalist has been under the microscope plenty of times in his long career — including a 2003 showdown over a Ten Commandments monument that he refused to remove from the court grounds. Now, the Left’s judicial target is back in their crosshairs, with another politically-motivated smear campaign.

What we know about the complaint is this: Southern Poverty Law Center is behind it. After the U.S. Supreme Court forced a radical redefinition of marriage on the entire country last summer, Justice Moore fought it with every legitimate judicial tool at his disposal. And while some have accused him of defying the Supreme Court’s decision to redefine marriage, the reality is that Moore was simply holding out until an official decision was reached in his state.

Didn’t the Supreme Court already make that determination for Alabama in Obergefell? The answer is yes and no. Last spring, before five justices decided to rewrite thousands of years of natural law, the Alabama Supreme Court had upheld the state’s marriage amendment. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled, there’s some confusion as to what the state’s decision means in light of that, and Chief Justice Moore has merely pointed out this lack of clarity. Until it rules, Chief Justice Moore has told probate judges to continue to follow his administrative order from last March: “Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect.”

Of course, the Left is spinning that to mean that Moore is defying the Supreme Court — and now, they’ve gotten their SPLC cronies to help level ethics charges at the Justice because of it. Last Friday, the Judicial Inquiry Commission decided to suspend Justice Moore without pay until he himself is tried. “Chief Justice Moore flagrantly disregarded and abused his authority,” the Commission insisted. “Moore knowingly ordered probate judges to commit violations… knowingly subjecting them to potential prosecution and removal from office.” The record will show Chief Justice Moore has done no such thing. What he has done is defend and represent the actual state of the law. His opponents just don’t like the policy implications of his legal arguments!

Originally published here.

Convention Contention?

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) may not be in the presidential race, but he can still affect it! Although the GOP’s presidential nomination may not be on the table at the RNC National Convention in Cleveland, something equally important will be: the party platform. And while some would argue that Donald Trump has already reshaped the Republican Party, conservatives are determined not to let him overhaul its guiding principles too. With Trump firmly in control of the GOP ticket, several conservatives — myself included — are gearing up to hold the line on key policy goals in the platform committee. And Senator Cruz has been instrumental in making sure his delegates are not just present in Ohio — but prepared — for any attacks on the conservative core values reflected in the GOP platform.

“To do that, it is imperative that we fill the Rules and Platform Committees with strong conservative voices like yours,” wrote former Cruz aid Ken Cuccinelli in an email to delegates. “That means you need to come to the national convention and support others in coming, too!” Cruz supporter and FRC friend Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has been trying to mobilize the troops for the July event, tweeting: “@TedCruz Delegates. We need all of you in Cleveland to defend our platform and protect the rules. We don’t know what Trump will do by then.”

In a Trump campaign where positions have been known to change, this will be a true test of the presumptive nominee. Already, Donald has raised some eyebrows suggesting that the party doesn’t need to be unified. Of course, the party platform is important every election cycle — but 2016’s will be a bellwether for Donald Trump and the GOP. If he chooses to use his energy and limited political capital trying to move the party away from its longstanding conservative principles, he will have deepened the already dangerous divides. It will signal that Trump’s GOP is leaving behind a large swathe of Americans who only vote Republican because the party is more aligned with their traditional values and conservative views. Where will they go? Certainly not to the Democratic Party, where even God isn’t welcome. They might opt to become Independent if a conservative Third Party candidate emerges, but that campaign would be doomed from the start — and most know it. Most likely, they’ll go hunting or shopping, but they won’t go to the polls. And every Republican down the ballot in congressional and local elections will suffer.

Originally published here.