At this point, more questions than answers regarding the Greensboro City Council’s redistricting lawsuit.
Aside from the main questions regarding who will defend the redistricting —-Guilford County attorney Mark Payne, representing the county Board of Elections–the defendant in the suit—says “he and the board will not take a position on the constitutionality of the new law, but will speak only to whether and how it can be implemented”—-prompts the question if someone else—perhaps Attorney General Roy Cooper—will step up to be vigorously defend (???) the law.
Another question, pointed out to me by a trusted and valuable source—does U.S. Middle District Court Judge Catherine Eagles —who has been assigned to hear the case– live in Greensboro?
Judge Eagles has had a long career here in Gboro—she was an attorney with the Greensboro firm Smith Moore Leatherwood before she became a a resident judge on the Guilford County Superior Court back in 1993, and a search of county tax rolls shows a Catherine Caldwell Eagles residing at a Greensboro address.
Look, I’m not trying to violate Judge Eagles’ privacy to make a political point. By the same token, if she is in fact one of the citizens that the City Council claims would be adversely affected by redistricting, is it not a conflict of interest for her to preside over the case?
