Judge dismisses LePage lawsuit against attorney general over cost of hiring outside attorneys

AUGUSTA — A Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit by Gov. Paul LePage that sought to require Attorney General Janet Mills to cover the costs of hiring outside attorneys when she declines to represent the governor.

LePage had filed suit in Kennebec County Superior Court in May after Mills declined to represent his office in filing legal briefs as part of the ongoing controversy over President Trump’s immigration policies. LePage, a Republican, supports Trump’s executive orders attempting to temporarily ban or restrict immigrants from several predominantly Muslim nations from traveling to the U.S. Mills, a Democrat who is seeking her party’s gubernatorial nomination in 2018, strongly opposes the executive orders and has joined other states challenging them in federal court.

In his lawsuit, LePage argued that Mills’ office should pay for him to hire outside legal counsel when she refuses to represent him. But in an Oct. 16 order, Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy said the issue was moot because the deadline to file so-called “amicus briefs” on the immigration cases with the U.S. Supreme Court had passed. So even if she were to agree with LePage’s contention that Mills delayed action or wrongly refused to pay for hiring outside counsel, the governor still would be unable to file briefs with the court, Murphy said.

But Murphy also addressed the broader issue by writing that the court does not have the jurisdiction to order the Attorney General’s Office to pay for the governor to hire outside counsel. In fact, Murphy wrote, such an order would violate Maine’s constitutional “separation of powers” between the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

Read more: http://www.pressherald.com/2017/10/18/superior-court-dismisses-lepages-suit-against-ag-over-costs-of-hiring-outside-attorneys/