Feral Judge Will Force Depositions from Tyrrell County Commissioners in Monument Suit (NC)
Judge will not block depositions about Tyrrell Confederate monument
Judge will not block depositions about Tyrrell Confederate monument
(Carolina Journal) - A federal judge has rejected Tyrrell County’s request to block depositions from current and former county commissioners in a lawsuit targeting the county’s Confederate monument.
US Magistrate Judge Robert Numbers issued an order Thursday denying the county’s request for a protective order. Tyrrell’s lawyers had argued that legislative immunity protected commissioners from forced testimony in the case.
“Tyrell County is not entitled to a protective order. Because legislative immunity is personal to the commissioners, the County may not assert the immunity on their behalf,” Numbers wrote in his three-page order.
“The Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause affords members of Congress immunity for legislative acts,” Numbers explained. “The Supreme Court has extended analogous immunity to state and local legislators to preserve the independence of the legislative function. Thus, local legislators are absolutely immune from suit for actions taken in their legislative capacities. Legislative immunity also includes a testimonial privilege protecting legislators from compelled testimony concerning legislative acts.”
“Legislative immunity, however, belongs to individual legislators, not to the governmental entity,” Numbers wrote. “Since the privilege is personal, each legislator must assert or waive it individually.”
“Here, none of the individual county commissioners have sought to…