The people of North Carolina and the alumni of N.C. State University deserve an apology. Administrators at the school have implemented a patently unconstitutional policy, which forces students to apply for a permit in order to share the gospel on a public university campus they fund with their hard earned tax dollars. To make matters worse, the permit policy is being used to target Christians specifically while others are being allowed to exercise their rights unfettered. Now that a federal judge has called their bluff, the lawless North Carolina attorney general continues to defend the indefensible.
Roy Cooper had the unmitigated gall to recently send two feminist lawyers – Kimberly Potter and Stephanie Brennan – into federal court to defend a policy that cannot possibly survive constitutional muster. On its face, the policy cannot be defended because even public high school students who have taken ninth grade civics know that the Constitution is the only speech permit you need to share the gospel on a university campus.
But the decision to spend tax dollars sending Potter and Brennan into the courtroom was even worse given that the plaintiffs had clear evidence that the speech permit policy was only being enforced against Christians. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Potter and Brennan were peppered with questions by a federal district court judge who ultimately issued an injunction against N.C. State and in favor of the Christian plaintiffs. (You can read about the decision here.)
Of course, this is not the first time the feminist duo of Potter and Brennan have been sent by Cooper to do the dirty work of stripping Christians of their First Amendment rights. Just two years ago, the pair lost a jury trial in Greenville, North Carolina in a four-day trial. During that trial, they specifically read from the opinion columns of a Christian professor and effectively asked the jury to punish the author for writing them. The jury responded by siding with the professor.
The Cooper-led feminist ms-step ended up costing the state $665K in compensatory damages and attorney fees. It’s a good thing the judge didn’t tack on another one thousand. Had it been $666K some might have started wondering whether Cooper is in fact the anti-Christ.
Contrast this outcome with Roy Cooper’s immediate and public decision to refuse to defend HB2. Cooper reflexively declared HB2 to be “unconstitutional” right after the now infamous bathroom bill was passed – and probably before the ink on the bill had even dried.
Does anyone notice a pattern developing, here? If not, just try reconciling the following:
1. Roy Cooper defends the UNC system when it tries to force Christians to obtain a permit to share the Gospel – despite the obvious unconstitutionality of the permit requirement. He immediately loses in a federal injunction hearing when a judge sees the problem Roy just can’t seem to see staring him right in the face.
2. Roy Cooper defends the UNC system when it tries to deny a Christian professor a promotion. In the process, his office tries to argue that the government is allowed to engage in viewpoint discrimination in regards to any writings professors place in their promotion materials. In defending this bizarre interpretation of the First Amendment, he ultimately loses millions in back pay, attorney fees, and off the books costs (in the form of employee work hours).
3. Roy Cooper refuses to defend HB2 - immediately recognizing that it is “unconstitutional.”
How does one reconcile these three cases? It’s actually pretty simple. Roy Cooper abides by two hard and fast rules when it comes to deciding which cases and laws he should defend (read: In deciding when he will do his job and when he will refuse to do his job). The two rules can briefly be summarized as follows:
1. Always side with the UNC system because they are Roy Cooper’s oldest allies in fighting a war against evangelical Christians.
2. Always side with the LGBT community because they are Roy Cooper’s newest (and most unhinged) allies in fighting a war against evangelical Christians.
Those who think Roy Cooper is just a good ole boy from the Tar Heel State are badly misguided. Don’t let the deep southern drawl and bad haircut fool you. Roy Cooper is no Andy Griffith. He’s more like Clarence Darrow without the intellectual ability and personal integrity.
Of course, any comparisons between Cooper and Darrow are probably unfair. Clarence Darrow battled Christianity by upholding the First Amendment. Roy Cooper battles Christianity by shredding the First Amendment.
For all of this nonsense, Roy Cooper needs to be disbarred, not elected governor. In other words, his time is up and someone needs to revoke his permit.