New action in the federal fight over HB2
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The Department of Justice has filed a new motion in the legal fight with North Carolina over House Bill 2. It is asking the court for a preliminary injunction.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE DOCUMENTS (.pdf)
The goal is to keep our state, the Department of Public Safety and the UNC school system from complying with the controversial law.
HB2 was designed to block a Charlotte non-discrimination ordinance, part of which allowed transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms of the gender they identify with. The state law requires people to use the restroom according to their biological sex listed on their birth certificate in government buildings, schools, and universities. The law also excludes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from anti-discrimination protections and blocks municipalities from adopting their own anti-discrimination and living wage rules.
"Governor McCrory is appropriately seeking legal certainty to a complex issue impacting employers and students throughout the country," said Josh Ellis, the governor's communications director. "In contrast, the Attorney General is using divisive rhetoric to advance the Obama administration's strategy of making laws that bypass the constitutional authority of Congress and our courts."
The new legal step follows the back and forth between the federal government and the state - the Justice Department filed suit against North Carolina in May over the law alleging it violates the Civil Rights Act.
Read more: War of words from D.C. to Raleigh over HB2
On a separate track, another review involving multiple agencies is taking place to determine whether federal money should be withheld to comply with a provision of the 1964 civil rights law.
However, the Obama administration has made it clear that it won't withhold money for North Carolina while a legal fight plays out over House Bill 2.
