RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) " Millions of dollars in funding for domestic violence programs in North Carolina narrowly survived a legal fight over a law limiting protections for LGBT people.
Federal judge Thomas Schroeder ruled Thursday to preserve nearly $5 million the state is scheduled to receive in the coming months under the federal Violence Against Women Act. He signed his order at 11:25 p.m., about a half-hour before a deadline that could have made the federal funding the first casualty of the legal battle.
The judge's order allows the Department of Justice to ignore a provision of the federal act that would have required a suspension of funding within 45 days after its lawsuit was filed. The Justice Department sued the state in May, alleging that the law limiting LGBT protections constitutes discrimination under the Violence Against Women Act and other federal laws.
Schroeder wrote that he had "serious concerns" about granting the government's request to sidestep the funding rule, but that he also weighed "the substantial harm that suspension of the funding in question would inflict on wholly innocent third parties."
Justice Department lawyers asked the court earlier this month to allow the government to maintain the funds in a motion also signed by lawyers for defendants Gov. Pat McCrory, the University of North Carolina and the Department of Public Safety. They argued that depriving the state of the money wouldn't advance the federal government's case, but it would harm victims of domestic violence, rape and other crimes.