Republicans seek to combine North Carolina LGBT lawsuits
Published 3:59 pm Monday, May 23, 2016
RALEIGH (AP) — North Carolina’s Republican leaders are seeking to combine separate lawsuits over a state law limiting protections for the LGBT community.
Recent filings could help steer the cases to a federal judge who twice sided with local or state officials against the federal government in recent years.
Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore on Monday asked to combine their case with a similar lawsuit filed by Gov. Pat McCrory against the federal government.
Their move follows McCrory’s separate request last week to move his lawsuit to another federal court so it can be combined with a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice. The judge assigned to the Justice Department lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder, notably sided with state officials in a voter ID case in April.
