North Carolina’s new 'secret police force' is a 'recipe for government abuse': expert

10 October 2023

In North Carolina — a swing state that President Joe Biden narrowly lost to Donald Trump in 2020 — Republicans have voted to create a new investigative government body called the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Operations or "Gov Ops."

Democrats have been attacking it as a recipe for civil liberties abuses, and centrist Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper refused to sign it into law. But because Republicans in the North Carolina State Legislature have a veto-proof majority, Gov Ops is now the law.

Journalist Rotimi Adeoye is highly critical of Gov Ops in an op-ed published by the Daily Beast on October 10, laying out some reasons why it is problematic from a constitutional standpoint and Democrats are attacking it as a "secret police force."

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"Any way you slice it, Gov Ops seems like a recipe for government overreach and abuse," Adeoye warns. "If you find yourself under investigation by Gov Ops, you won't be allowed to publicly discuss any alleged constitutional violations or misconduct by the investigators. All communications with committee personnel would be treated as 'confidential.' Shockingly, you'd also be denied the right to seek legal counsel regarding your rights if Gov Ops were to search your property without a warrant, irrespective of whether it's in a public or private space."

Adeoye finds the "language within the statute itself" troubling.

"The key phrase, as highlighted by Republican state legislators, is the investigation of 'possible instances of misfeasance,'" Adeoye explains. "It's unsettling that North Carolina's Republican state legislators are poised to wield unchecked partisan authority, devoid of any form of accountability, to determine what qualifies as 'possible instances of misfeasance.'"

Adeoye adds, "This newfound investigative power threatens to have far-reaching repercussions on fundamental civil liberties, particularly those closely intertwined with the state legislature — such as voting rights and abortion."

Nora Benavidez, a senior counsel for Free Press, is also worried about Gov Ops.

Benavidez told The Daily Beast, "This is a question for the courts ultimately. But the powers granted to the Gov Ops appear to give them overreaching investigative authority, which invokes constitutionality questions."

Read the full Daily Beast op-ed at this link (subscription required).

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