BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Latest on a dispute between Louisiana’s governor and attorney general over an LGBT-rights executive order (all times local):
12:10 p.m.
A lawyer for Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards says a judge “just got it wrong” when he threw out as unconstitutional Edwards’ order protecting LGBT rights in state government.
Edwards’ attorney Matthew Block made his argument Tuesday to a Louisiana appeals court panel, seeking to have the executive order reinstated.
The order banned discrimination in government and state contracts based on sexual orientation and gender identity. A judge blocked enforcement in December in response to Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry’s lawsuit.
Block says the Democratic governor has the legal authority to issue what Block described as internal policy covering hiring and contracting standards in the executive branch.
Landry’s lawyer Elizabeth Murrill says Edwards is claiming authority Louisiana’s governor isn’t granted in the state constitution.
The appeals court judges didn’t issue a ruling Tuesday.
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6 a.m.
Lawyers for Louisiana’s Democratic governor and Republican attorney general are heading back to court to argue the constitutionality of an order aimed at protecting LGBT rights in state government.
Gov. John Bel Edwards is hoping an appeals court will reinstate his executive order banning discrimination in government and state contracts based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
A three-judge court panel hears arguments Tuesday from lawyers for the governor and for Attorney General Jeff Landry, who filed the lawsuit challenging Edwards’ order.
In December, District Court Judge Todd Hernandez ruled the governor’s order violated Louisiana’s constitutional separation of powers and blocked enforcement of it.
Hernandez agreed with Landry that Edwards’ order was executive overreach, unconstitutionally seeking to circumvent Louisiana lawmakers who have refused to write such LGBT-rights protections into statute.
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