Louisiana’s new governor has asked an appeals court today to drop a lawsuit his predecessor filed against federal officials over the Common Core education standards—and to reject state Attorney General Jeff Landry’s attempt to keep the suit alive.
The Associated Press reports Gov. John Bel Edwards’ filing at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest in a legal and political skirmish playing out between the new Democratic governor and the state’s Republican attorney general.
Former Gov. Bobby Jindal, also a Republican, filed the lawsuit last year during his campaign for the GOP’s presidential nomination. Jindal claimed President Barack Obama’s administration used federal money and policy to coerce states into adopting the English and math standards.
A federal judge rejected the allegation last year. Jindal appealed before leaving office.
Edwards, who took office in January, has been a critic of Common Core. But he says the suit is expensive and unnecessary. He points to a new federal law barring the federal government from mandating standards, and the state’s recent move to revise the standards.
But after Edwards announced last week that he would drop the suit, Landry suggested he would intervene. That led to a public exchange of letters and court motions debating who has the authority to pursue—or drop—the lawsuit.
Landry asked that he be made the substitute plaintiff in a Monday filing at the 5th Circuit. In a letter to Edwards, Landry says he is tasked by the Louisiana Constitution to make legal decisions for the state.
Edwards’ executive counsel, Matthew Block, argues in today’s motion that a sitting governor filed the action on behalf of the governor’s office. By virtue of “the simple fact that Louisiana has only one governor at a time,” the new governor became the new plaintiff, Block says.
Block also points to a 1990 federal court decision which held that, under the Louisiana Constitution, the attorney general is an executive branch officer “inferior to the Governor.”
“Put simply, the Attorney General does not have procedural or constitutional authority to substitute himself into this case, nor does he have the authority to override the Governor’s decision about its direction,” Block writes.
