Republicans override Cooper veto - shrink Court of Appeals to 12 judges
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have successfully overridden another veto by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.
Wednesday night, the Senate voting to make House Bill 239 law over Cooper's objection. The bill reduces the number of judges on the Court of Appeals to 12 judges. There are currently 15 judges allowed.
When he vetoed the bill Friday, Cooper said "Having three fewer judges will increase the court's workload and delay timely appeals."
"Just as bad is the real motivation of Republican legislators, which is to stack the court with judges of their own party," he continued.
But in a news release after the override vote, Republicans said the move is intended to improve the efficiency of the court and called Cooper's veto politically-motivated.
"Even though he says partisan politics has no place on the bench, the fact is Roy Cooper previously packed the Court of Appeals with Democrats - and just replaced a Republican appellate court judge elected by the voters with his handpicked Democrat replacement who was twice rejected by the voters. I am pleased this bill undoing his partisan court-packing scheme and making the court more efficient is now law," said Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham).
