'State sovereignty? Not optional:' Exec Councilor applauds inspections ruling appeal

Executive Councilor John Stephen says a single judge cannot overturn lawful legislation (Courtesy photos)

CONCORD - An executive councilor on Thursday applauded the state's Attorney General for seeking a stay of an order by a federal district court judge that sought to overturn legislation that ended vehicle inspections in the Granite State.

"The Legislature repealed the inspection program," Executive Councilor John Stephen, R-Manchester, said in a statement released on Thursday. "The Governor signed it. The Executive Council voted 3-2 to deny the contract extension. Every branch of New Hampshire's government has spoken. A single federal district court judge does not get to overrule all three."

New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella recently filed the motion with the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit seeking a stay of Judge Landya McCafferty's preliminary injunction in Gordon-Darby Holdings, Inc. v. Quinn (No. 26-1209).

"Gordon-Darby is a private company that lost a government contract and is using the Clean Air Act to try to get it back," Stephen said. "The Attorney General's appeal makes the central point: there is no state law left to enforce. The injunction demands that state officials administer a program with no statutory authority, no appropriation, and no legal basis. The Supreme Court has been clear that the federal government cannot commandeer state officials to run federal programs. New Hampshire will not be the exception."

Stephen said he is hoping justice prevails and that the First Circuit Court will do the right thing.

"I am confident the First Circuit will do what the District Court would not: recognize that the Tenth Amendment means something, that state sovereignty is not optional, and that one corporation's lost contract does not give a federal judge the power to conscript the State of New Hampshire."

Gordon-Darby, Inc. on its website home page bills itself as "a U.S.-based leader in providing government services. Delivering innovative and quality programs, systems, and services for our state partners has been the company's guiding principle since our founding in 1982."

Judge McCafferty issued the preliminary injunction blocking New Hampshire from ending its mandatory vehicle inspection program, which was scheduled for Jan. 31. The ruling had sought to keep the program in place to prevent violations of the federal Clean Air Act until the EPA reviews the state's legislation regarding the discontinuance of inspections.

The injunction has been an ongoing source of frustration and confusion for Granite Staters ever since McCafferty's ruling.