Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Story Archives - Page 2 of 26

Appeal Filed In Abortion Pill Court Battle

The lawsuit claimed that Morrisey violated federal law, more specifically the commerce clause of the U.S Constitution, by prohibiting the sale of the drug in West Virginia.

Abortion pill manufacturer GenBioPro has filed an appeal to the judge’s August ruling in its case against West Virginia’s near-total abortion ban.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chambers dismissed some claims filed by pharmaceutical group GenBioPro in a lawsuit against the state’s attorney general, Patrick Morrisey.

GenBioPro manufactures a generic version of Mifepristone, an FDA approved, non-invasive prescription pill. The medication is used in conjunction with Misoprostol for medical abortions and can be taken at home to terminate a pregnancy.

The lawsuit claimed that Morrisey violated federal law, more specifically the commerce clause of the U.S Constitution, by prohibiting the sale of the drug in West Virginia.

The clause gives Congress broad power to regulate and restrict states from impairing interstate commerce. However, Chambers, who presides over the southern district of West Virginia, said states have the right to regulate public health and morality by curtailing the sale of goods.

The court earlier ruled that GenBioPro had legal standing to bring a suit against the attorney general’s office on the basis of economic damages incurred by the company.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said his office stands ready to fight an appeal and that the judge’s former ruling made it clear the regulation of abortion falls on the states.

“As we did in federal district court, we stand ready to defend West Virginia law to the fullest,” Morrisey said. “There’s no doubt in my mind the new Unborn Child Protection Act is not preempted by federal law and that all of these statutes are constitutional.”

Skye Perryman, Legal Counsel to GenBioPro and President and CEO of Democracy Forward, said this appeal is a critical next step in her organization’s fight to protect access to medication abortion.

“West Virginia’s decision to step in where Congress has granted FDA the authority to regulate mifepristone is unlawful and could undermine not only access to medication, but the country’s entire drug regulation system,” Perryman said. “What’s more, decades of science support mifepristone’s safety and efficacy and it is unacceptable that people living in West Virginia who need this basic health care are being forced to travel out of state or forgo care altogether. We look forward to continuing to represent GenBioPro in the further stages of this case.”

According to Morrisey’s office, in August, the district court dismissed the preemption claim against the state’s Unborn Child Protection Act and the constitutional challenges entirely, but it allowed the preemption challenge to the telehealth provisions to proceed.

Morrisey said GenBioPro removed the telehealth challenge in order to proceed with an appeal.

Morrisey Petitions NCAA For WVU Player Transfer

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sent a letter Tuesday to the NCAA, urging officials to reverse their decision and grant Battle the opportunity to play. He said the waiver denial “was wrong.”

Efforts to get basketball player RaeQuan Battle a transfer waiver so he can play for West Virginia University continue.

Battle played for two years at the University of Washington and two years at Montana State University. Student athletes are allowed to transfer once to another school and play immediately.

According to the NCAA’s website, if a student wants to transfer to a third four-year school, the transfer is allowed, but with a penalty of sitting out a year. The athlete will not play and possibly not practice with the team for an entire year.

The rejection of Battle’s “year-in-residence” waiver “conflicts with the NCAA’s own guidelines and principles,” Morrisey wrote. His letter also encouraged the NCAA to take immediate steps to implement a more appropriate system for regulating student-athlete transfers.

“There are many exceptions to NCAA’s transfer regulation yet the NCAA failed to consider the circumstances unique to RaeQuan,” Morrisey said. “Real issues are at stake here for the citizens of West Virginia, and they implicate my duties as the state’s chief antitrust officer.”

The Attorney General is asking the NCAA to respond to the letter by Nov. 6.

Battle’s unique circumstances centered around him growing up on the Tulalip Tribes reservation in Washington state and experiencing the many challenges his life presented, including losing a loved one to suicide and a school shooting that killed four of his classmates.

Gov. Jim Justice also indicated in an administration briefing that he would also write a letter to the NCAA.

Read a copy of Morrisey’s letter: https://bit.ly/3QlJ5XJ.

Morrisey Argues In Favor Of Trans Sports Ban To Fourth Circuit

On Friday, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey continued to defend the state’s law barring transgender athletes from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey presented arguments Friday to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia in a case challenging West Virginia’s law barring transgender athletes from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

In 2021, the West Virginia Legislature enacted a law “to defend the integrity of women’s sports” that prohibits transgender girls and women in the state from competing on sports teams at “any public secondary school or state institution of higher education.”

The bill was signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice on April 28, 2021.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of West Virginia, Lambda Legal, and Cooley LLP challenged the law on May 8, 2021, on behalf of Becky Pepper Jackson, a now 13-year-old middle school transgender girl who would be kicked off her middle school’s girls’ cross country and track and field teams if the law were enforced.

Since then, Morrisey’s office has fought to dismiss the lawsuit.

Morrisey was assisted by attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian conservative legal organization, in filing this litigation.

In January, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia upheld the law, ruling that the state legislature’s definition of “girl” and “woman” in the context of HB 3293, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” is “constitutionally permissible” and that the law complies with Title IX.

Title IX was signed into law on June 23, 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.

Morrisey said the law protects female athletes’ safety and keeps female sports competitive for female athletes, consistent with Title IX and the Constitution.

Jackson’s legal team won a ruling from the lower court blocking enforcement of the law pending final resolution of the case. In February 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals and the Fourth Circuit blocked the state’s effort to kick Jackson off the team as her legal team appealed the lower court’s subsequent ruling upholding the 2021 law.

In August of this year, the Fourth Circuit reinstated a preliminary injunction that allowed Jackson to continue participating on girls’ sports teams until it rules on her appeal.

The Attorney General’s Office contends that Title IX doesn’t mention transgender status. Instead, the marker is biological sex, which recognizes that there are distinct differences between males and females. Further, Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of biological sex, not gender identity.

“Look, I’m very hopeful that we’re going to prevail on the Fourth Circuit,” Morrisey said in a recorded statement. “I think we’re absolutely correct on the law. The district court got it right. And to us, it’s a matter of basic fairness and common sense that biological males should not be playing sports with women. We submitted 3,000 pages; 500 docket entries. This should be so straightforward. I’m hopeful the Fourth Circuit sees our way after these arguments.”

West Virginia is one of 23 states that have banned transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams in the last three years.

Campaign Donors In Primary Race For Governor Spark Voter Attention

There’s more to glean from a candidate’s campaign financial reports than the amount of money raised. Who and where the contributions come from can spark voter alerts.

There’s more to glean from a candidate’s campaign financial reports than the amount of money raised. Who and where the contributions come from can be a reason for voter alerts.

Third quarter campaign finance reports in the West Virginia governor’s race show the four leading candidates, all Republican, raised nearly $1.2 million combined. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey accounted for nearly half that amount.

Marybeth Beller, Marshall University associate professor of Political Science, looked closely at in-state versus out-of-state contributions. She noted that of the two front-runners, 57 percent of Del. Moore Capito’s donations came from West Virginia donors, while 83 percent of Morrisey’s donors come from out-of-state. Beller said voters should pay attention to that.

“Voters need to really be wary, no matter who the candidate is, if the bulk of that candidate’s support is coming from outside the state,” Beller said. “What did those out-of-state interests have? And what are they trying to get from the gubernatorial position in West Virginia?”

The quarterly reports list donors that have given contributions under $250. Each donation is counted separately, creating multiple donations from single sources.

Beller noted that among the four leading candidates, businessman Chris Miller had 78 donations under $250, with just four multiple donations.

Secretary of State Mac Warner listed 281 individuals donating under $250 with 17 multiples. Capito had 322 individual donations with 25 multiple donors.

Morrisey reported 21,990 individual donations, with most from donors that contributed small amounts multiple times. Beller said this counting system can skew campaign ads.

“Morrisey can say in his ads that he has nearly 22,000 people contribute individual donations,” Beller said. “What would be misleading is for the audience to think that that meant they were individual donors. Most of those are recurring donations.”

Beller said that unlike his competitors, where most contributors list their address and occupation, the bulk of Morrisey’s contributors are unidentified.

“I would urge the Secretary of State’s office to really investigate those disclosures,” Beller said. “I think the public deserves to know where these contributions are coming from for all of the candidates.”

Morrisey Argues Against Gender Affirming Care Through Medicaid

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey does not think the state’s Medicaid plan should cover gender-affirming surgery.

On Thursday, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said his office argued a case before the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals involving the state’s decision not to cover gender-affirming surgeries under its Medicaid plan.

That case is an appeal from an order last year from a federal district court. It said the state’s choice not to cover gender-affirming care under Medicaid violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

The original class-action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia on behalf of three Medicaid recipients. Christopher Fain, a Medicaid participant; and Zachary Martell and Brian McNemar, a dependent and state employee, respectively.

Usually, three-judge panels decide cases on appeal, but the Fourth Circuit set the argument before the entire court in this case and a related case out of North Carolina.

For now, gender-affirming care is covered under the state’s Medicaid program.

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W.Va. State Auditor McCuskey Exits Governor’s Race, Enters 2024 Attorney General Campaign

State Auditor J.B. McCuskey announced Monday he has dropped out of the governor’s race and is now running for attorney general.

State Auditor J.B. McCuskey announced Monday he has officially dropped out of the governor’s race and is now running for attorney general.

In changing campaigns, the former delegate and two term state auditor said he realized he was behind in the polls and fundraising in a primary race for governor that included a U.S. Senator’s son, Del. Moore Capito, R-Kanawha, businessman Chris Miller, current Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and current Secretary of State Mac Warner. McCuskey said seeking the AG’s office was a better goal.

“I looked at the offices,” McCuskey said. “I believe that the combination of my experience as the executive of one of the largest constitutional offices in the state of West Virginia, with my extensive legal background, makes me an ideal candidate to be the next attorney general.”

McCuskey says his nearly $700,000 campaign war chest stands strong in running against the other republican AG candidates, State Sens. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, and Mike Stewart, R-Kanawha. He came in fourth in fundraising for the governor’s race, showing $412,083 cash-on-hand.

That’s a good deal more than his two AG primary opponents.

Stating he’s a strong and principled conservative, McCuskey said the AG’s office acts as the state’s lawyer for all of the agencies, all of the boards and commissions, and all the constitutional officers.

“As the person that managed all the finances for every single one of those agencies,” he said. “Often dealing in the legal realm as to what is legal and what is possible, I think that being the state’s lawyer with all those relationships is going to be a huge help.”

McCuskey said he wants “to continue what Patrick Morrisey has accomplished over his time as attorney general that has been wildly successful.” He said his campaign will focus on being a consumer protection advocate, civil rights protector, criminal justice reformer and empowering the state’s public defender service.

“We have worked long and hard in our office to make sure that they’re getting paid very quickly,” McCuskey said. “We need to make sure that we’re paying them appropriately so that we can have a great public defender’s office to ensure all of those duties are running smoothly.”

J.B. McCuskey lives in Charleston, with his wife Wendy, and daughters Martha and Charlotte.