Phil Berger

Sen. Phil Berger says the law that is causing magistrates to recuse themselves will probably prevent situations like the one in Kentucky.

Thee Senate’s top leader pushed for religious exemptions for some court officials from performing marriage duties, months after the state’s same-sex marriage ban was struck down.

North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger and former state House leader and newly-seated U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to quickly hear their appeal seeking to reverse lower-court rulings that legalized same-sex marriage in the state.

Senate leader Phil Berger and likely House Speaker Tim Moore said Thursday the two Republicans will ask the nation’s highest court to hear the North Carolina case.

The leaders of the two branches of the North Carolina state legislature notified a federal court on Friday that they will ask the Supreme Court to rule promptly on the constitutionality of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. In a filing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the two legislative leaders […]

RALEIGH, N.C. — Lawyers for several gay couples say in a legal filing that North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders shouldn’t be allowed to appeal rulings that legalized gay marriage in the state. In a filing Friday in federal court, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union challenge the ability of …

GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina legislative leaders are giving formal notice that their lawyers will appeal a Greensboro federal judge’s ruling that legalized same-sex marriages in the state. Attorneys hired by Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis say they’re appealing. Lawmakers decided to appeal earlier this year after…

RALEIGH, N.C. — Twenty-eight Republicans in the North Carolina Senate are urging state courts administrators not to punish employees who refuse to marry gay couples based on religious objections.

RALEIGH, N.C. — A top North Carolina Republican said Thursday that he will back a bill protecting state officials who refuse to issue marriage licenses or perform weddings for same-sex couples. Senate Leader Phil Berger Sr. said he will introduce legislation in response to a magistrate in his home county who decided to resign instead of agreeing …

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders plan to appeal a ruling that struck down the state’s gay marriage ban. Legal experts say any appeal would face an uphill battle. House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger’s appeal would go to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia…

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge has allowed Republican lawmakers to intervene in a pair of challenges to North Carolina’s now-defunct same-sex marriage ban, potentially enabling them to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Lawyers for North Carolina Republican leaders on Friday filed a legal brief urging a federal judge to allow them to intervene in a pair of cases seeking to overturn the state’s gay marriage ban.

RALEIGH, N.C. — As same-sex couples in North Carolina await federal court rulings they hope will allow them to get married, Republican legislative leaders are making a last-minute move to block or delay the nuptials….

RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican legislative leaders said Friday that they are getting outside legal help related to a federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage, suggesting they aren’t convinced Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper can wholeheartedly defend the state in the case.