Tag: Josh Stein

Democrat North Carolina Attorney General Joins Suit Against Protect Life Rule

A.P. Dillon

North Carolina’s Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein has pulled the Tarheel state into a multi-state suit challenging the Trump Administrations ‘Protect Life Rule‘ as part of Title X. “Title X clinics screen for cancer, prevent unintended pregnancies, and reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections,” said Attorney General Josh Stein in a press release. “These are critical healthcare services that change and save lives. This proposed gag rule would prevent women in North Carolina from making the healthcare decisions that allow them to lead happy, healthy lives.” The national suit was filed March 4 by 20 other states and District of Columbia with California filing its own version. North Carolina will be the only state in the south to join the suit. The other states involved are Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. All of the states involved have Democratic attorney generals. “North Carolina Values Coalition supports the Trump administration’s Protect Life Rule, which redirects Title X family planning program funds away from the abortion industry and bars taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring patients to abortion providers,” said Tami Fitzgerald, NC…

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North Carolina Attorney General Won’t Detail ‘Serious Concerns’ About Trump Border Declaration

A.P. Dillon

North Carolina’s Attorney General Josh Stein has “serious concerns” about President Trump’s National Emergency Declaration – but his office won’t detail them. Stein won’t be entering into the 16 state coalition suing President Trump over the move. Instead, a statement from Stein was tweeted by the official North Carolina Department of Justice account that said he has “serious concerns” about the declaration and are reviewing it. .@JoshStein_ : "I have serious concerns about the legality of President Trump’s emergency declaration. We are reviewing the order, and in particular any effects on North Carolina military installations. We will not hesitate to take action if we conclude it is necessary.” — NC Attorney General (@NCAGO) February 19, 2019 Battleground State News reached out to the North Carolina Department of Justice (NCDOJ) for clarification on the Attorney General’s specific “serious concerns.” In our questions to the NCDOJ, we asked about the 31 active National Emergencies that have been declared since 1979. 10 of them were enacted under President Obama. Our research found no “serious concerns” lodged by Mr. Stein as a legislator or since taking office as Attorney General, so we asked for details of what his current “serious concerns” with the Trump…

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North Carolina Elections Committee ‘Disturbed’ by State Justice Department Missing Fed Subpoena Deadlines, Urges Compliance

A.P. Dillon

North Carolina lawmakers on the state’s Elections and Ethics Committee sent a letter to the state’s Attorney General urging him to comply with two federal subpoenas. Earlier this month, the North Carolina Department of Justice missed the deadline to respond to two federal grand jury subpoenas issued in September 2018 and which requested five years worth of voter and ballot data from 44 counties. In addition, the subpoenas requested eight years of data for voters statewide and eight years of data from the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. North Carolina House Elections Committee co-chairs Representative Holly Grange (R-D20) and Representative Destin Hall (R-D87) sent a letter on Tuesday to the State Board of Elections and Attorney General Josh Stein. Representatives Grange and Hall were recently appointed co-chairs of the North Carolina House Committee on Elections and Ethics Law by Speaker Tim Moore (R-D111). The letter, which was included in a press release put out by Speaker Moore, urges the agencies to comply with the federal grand jury subpoenas. “We are disturbed that the State Board declined to comply with grand jury subpoenas which seek to discover potential election fraud in North Carolina,” wrote Representatives Grange and Hall in the letter.…

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North Carolina Rape Kit Backlog Continues to Plague State’s Department of Justice

A.P. Dillon

A massive backlog of untested rape kits continues to plague North Carolina’s Attorney General Josh Stein and the state’s Department of Justice. Attorney General Stein held a press conference Tuesday announcing proposed legislation that will help address the backlog. The press conference was broadcast live via the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Facebook page. The proposed legislation is called the Standing Up for Rape Victims Act, or Survivor Act. The act, if passed, will mandate submitting sexual assault kits for testing to an accredited lab for local law enforcement agencies and will provide $6 million in funding over the next two years. In addition, the act includes $800,000 in recurring funds to hire additional forensic scientists for testing the kits. The proposed Survivor act is sponsored by sponsors Senator Warren Daniel (R-D46) and Representatives Mary Belk (D-D88), Jamie Boles (R-D52), Billy Richardson (D-D44), and Carson Smith (R-D16). Stein also said that the Governor’s Crime Commission was giving the Department of Justice $2 million for processing around 3,000 rape kits. Stein, however, said the $2 million was “nowhere near enough money” and that the legislature has to provide even more funding. “The untested sexual assault kits sitting on law enforcement shelves…

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