North Carolina Republicans create "secret police force"

[douglas9]

North Carolina’s new $300 billion state budget contains a provision that gives extraordinary investigative powers to a partisan oversight committee co-chaired by Senate Leader Phil Berger (R) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R).

The Joint Legislative Committee on Government Operations — or Gov Ops for short — is empowered to seize “any document or system of record” from anyone who works in or with state and local government during its investigations. The rule applies to contractors, subcontractors, and any other non-state entity “receiving, directly and indirectly, public funds,” including charities and state universities.

Moreover, Gov Ops staff will be authorized to enter “any building or facility” owned or leased by a state or non-state entity without a judicial warrant. This includes the private residences of subcontractors and contractors who run businesses out of their homes, lawmakers say.

Alarmingly, public employees under investigation will be required to keep all communication and requests “confidential.” They cannot alert their supervisor of the investigation nor consult with legal counsel. Violating this rule “shall be grounds for disciplinary action, including dismissal,” the law reads. Those who refuse to cooperate face jail time and fines of up to $1,000. In the event that Gov Ops searches a person’s home, these rules mean that the person 1) must keep the entry a secret, 2) cannot seek outside help (unless necessary for fulfilling the request, the law says), and 3) could face criminal charges if Gov Ops deems them uncooperative.


https://popular.info/p/north-carolina-republicans-create

[Lovie777]

1. Lawsuit ................

secret police, why does it sounds like Hitler re-make.

[quakerboy]

20. By who, and when?

Perhaps after they sieze votes in inconvenient districts, certify the count without those votes, and then take the case before the 5-2 NC supreme court?

[ms liberty]

2. I am hoping this will be challenged the minute they override Gov Cooper's veto

Because he will veto it, I'm sure.

[dweller]

4. He's signed it already

☹️



✌🏻

[unc70]

8. Did not sign, did not veto. Let it become law

After 10 days without governor taking action, it becomes law by default. He did not veto because the gop would have overridden it, only effect being to delay Medicaid expansion.

[dweller]

10. Right

I just heard about it a week ago , forgot the process


✌🏻

[AKwannabe]

3. Can't seek legal counsel??

Fuck them!
Wtf?

[Chainfire]

5. Can you say "Gestapo?"

[KS Toronado]

11. As fast as I can say "Welcome Fascism"

[CurtEastPoint]

6. Uh.... no. They cannot make a law to supersede the constitution

Moreover, Gov Ops staff will be authorized to enter “any building or facility” owned or leased by a state or non-state entity without a judicial warrant. This includes the private residences of subcontractors and contractors who run businesses out of their homes, lawmakers say.

[Chainfire]

22. Didn't you know that when you put a computer and file cabinet in your home you forfeited your

Constitutional rights?

[2naSalit]

7. Oh yoohoo, DOJ...

Hope you are watching this closely.

[ShazzieB]

9. Hello, Gazpacho police.

[Chi67]

12. take it to court

This is blatantly unconstitutional.

[NBachers]

13. Lets see, who said "Isn't it time to get the government off the backs of the American people?"

[malthaussen]

14. Another example of a GOP law that will fail as soon as it is tested in court...

... but in the interim, can cause pain and damage to citizens.

-- Mal

[justaprogressive]

15. Fascisti!!

Brown Shirts!

[Marthe48]

17. call it GOPs

No Dem would sign onto to this travesty.

[Ford_Prefect]

18. I suspect it violates the state constitution as well as the federal one.

It certainly violates rights of personal privacy, due process and the presumption of innocence. What about the separation of powers?

I wonder how the great many gun loving North Carolina MAGA feel about it? , It seems to be the kind of invasive government power straight out of their Q inspired nightmares.

Full original story from The Charlotte Observer can found at https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article279823109.html

New provision will let NC lawmakers launch partisan probes cloaked in secrecy
Opinion BY NED BARNETT
SEPTEMBER 27, 2023 4:39 PM

****************
Republican leaders say the changes will improve the legislature’s ability to root out waste, fraud and abuse. But state Sen. Graig Meyer, D-Orange, is calling it what it really is: Politically appointed staffers, newly empowered and cloaked in secrecy, will pursue the partisan aims of Republican legislative leaders. “It is not too extreme to call this a non-judicial secret police force,” Meyer said in a statement. “The new agency has no known parallel in the U.S. And state law provides for no independent oversight of the committee.”

Gov. Roy Cooper said the legislature is shielding its own actions as it assumes new powers to pry into the executive branch, local governments and government contractors. “Intentionally, they block the right of the public to see legislative records on backroom deals with special interests, give themselves more power to seize state and private company records and unconstitutionally set up a secret police to intimidate and silence executive branch employees,” Cooper said in a statement. “This is all a recipe for legislative corruption and abuse of power.”

The state auditor, the attorney general, the state treasurer, the State Bureau of Investigation and others already provide checks on the waste and abuse of state funding. That this Republican-controlled legislature is interested in strengthening that oversight is a parody.

This is the legislature that has approved millions of dollars in vouchers going to private, mostly religious schools with virtually no accountability. This a legislature that does most of its business behind closed doors.

And this is a legislature that disbanded a unit that did fairly review state spending. The Program Evaluation Division (PED) began work in 2008 with a staff of nonpartisan experts and served the legislature much as the nonpartisan General Accountability Office serves Congress. John Turcotte, who led PED, said the unit saved the state $38 million annually while its annual operating cost was only $1.7 million. Despite that return to taxpayers, Republicans shut down PED in 2021 and replaced it with partisan staff under Gov Ops.

Read more at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article279823109.html#storylink=cpy

[ashredux]

19. Gestapo.... That's all it is.

“… The Gestapo operated without civil restraints. It had the authority of “preventive arrest,” and its actions were not subject to judicial appeal. Thousands of leftists, intellectuals, Jews, trade unionists, political clergy, and homosexuals simply disappeared into concentration camps after being arrested by the Gestapo.…”

[machoneman]

21. Wow, whoever wrote this law spent a lot of time crafting it. And a lot of thought in how it would...

be deployed to hurt the Dems, their allies, supporters, etc. All with the intent not just to skirt their own Constitution and courts, but keep all intrusions secret from those courts, the public and the media. An amazing work, designed solely to advance the R agenda and hurt everyone else.

[Ford_Prefect]

26. North Carolina has been the testing site for many of the GOP outrages of law and civil rights.

These legislative "adventures" in the long running RW Oligarch plot to subvert the rule of federal and constitutional law have been used to refine the templates used in other GOP dominated states.

NC has 14 congressional representatives, is the 9th largest state by population, and growing rapidly now that Florida has become so toxic. Yet the legislature operates only part time.

[brakester]

23. This is what happens under

minority rule, made possible by extreme partisan and racial gerrymandering. Massive corruption goes hand in hand with massive power.

It's time we throw those power-drunk bobsey twins over the cliff.

[brakester]

24. Do they think

they are Homeland Security?

I'm sure they have something nefarious and specific in mind. Can't wait for their secret plans to be revealed.

No, actually, they need to be taken to court and squashed like the cockroaches they resemble.

[LiberalFighter]

25. Nazis?

[littlemissmartypants]

27. Thanks for sharing this. ❤️

[CRK7376]

28. Sieg Heil NCGOP!

NCGOP is nothing but a bunch of Nazis taking away voting rights, gerrymandering etc... they definitely need to monitored and destroyed as a political entity, they are disgusting power hungry assholes.