BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Latest on the dispute between Attorney General Jeff Landry and Gov. John Bel Edwards over the governor’s LGBT-rights protection order (all times local):
7:05 p.m.
Lawyers for Louisiana’s governor and attorney general clashed in court in a struggle about the limits of the statewide elected officials’ authority and Gov. John Bel Edwards’ executive order aimed at protecting LGBT rights.
Judge Todd Hernandez heard a full day of witness testimony and legal arguments Tuesday in the latest in a series of disputes between the Democratic Edwards and Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry.
But Hernandez didn’t rule on Landry’s request to block Edwards from enforcing his executive order prohibiting discrimination in government and state contracts based on sexual orientation and gender identity. He also didn’t rule on Edwards’ request to spell out the boundaries of the attorney general’s authority.
Instead, the judge asked for follow-up written arguments by Friday and said he’d make a decision quickly thereafter.
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6 a.m.
Gov. John Bel Edwards says his LGBT-rights protection order is a statement that Louisiana doesn’t discriminate. Attorney General Jeff Landry calls it executive overreach.
A Baton Rouge judge hears the arguments Tuesday as he decides whether to block the Democratic governor from enforcing the anti-discrimination order.
Edwards issued the order in April prohibiting discrimination in government and state contracts based on sexual orientation and gender identity, with an exception for contractors that are religious organizations.
Landry says the order is unconstitutional because it seeks to establish a new protected class of people that doesn’t exist in law and that lawmakers refused to add. The Republican attorney general wants an injunction against the order, and he’s stalled legal contracts that contain the anti-discrimination language.
Edwards says Landry is exceeding his authority.
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