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p.C. Supreme Court to hear wCondon v. Hodges lawsuit 3Y JEFFREY COLLINS ASSOCIATED phess The'state Supreme Court has agreed to hear a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general that pits state legislators against the governor. The high court agreed Friday to take the first crack at the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Charlie Condon and Republican legislative leaders against Gov. Jim Hodges. At issue is $28.5 million allo cated from a low-level nuclear site cleanup fund that Hodges asked presidents of 33 state-sup ported colleges and universities to return to the state’s general fund to balance the budget.Hodges said the colleges didn’t need that money after he vetoed $88 million in cuts else where in the budget, including $50 million generated by in creasing the grocery sales tax to 5 percent. Condon, who is seeking the GOP nomination to run for gov ernor, sued Hodges in July at the urging of Republican lawmakers who said-the governor’s actions were unconstitutional and took away their power to appropriate money as they see fit. “The significance of this case is going to be felt for many, many years. Close and lock the doors of the chambers of the Legislature if the governor gets his way,” House Speaker Pro Tern Doug Smith said. “The significance of this case is going to be felt for many, many years. Close and lock the doors of the chambers of the Legislature if the governor gets his way.” ' House Speaker Pro Tem Doug Smith “This case is about separation of power and responsibilities and obligations of each branch of gov ernment. There’s no question that Governor Hodges raided and has attempted to steal the re sponsibilities of the Legislature,” said Smith, R-Spartanburg. If the justices rule Hodges’ ac tions were constitutional, future governors could ask other agen cies such as the Department of Health and Environmental Control to return or shift fund ing, said Senate Finance Committee chairman Hugh Leatherman. “If this is allowed to stand, the General Assembly may as well stay home. The governor could move around funds. He could be a one man _ legislature,” said Leatherman, R-Florence. Cortney Owings, Hodges’ press secretary, said the gover nor couldn’t comment on pend ing litigation. The justices didn’t indicate when the arguments might take place. Condon has said if Hodges wins the case, no amount of mon * ey the Legislature appropriates would be safe. “The separation of powers pro tection was wisely put in our con stitution to prevent just such a seizure of power,” Condon said. Hodges’ lawyers have said it marks the first time an attorney general has sued a governor. Condon is running to replace Hodges in 2002. Condon sued Hodges, along with Comptroller General James Lander and state Treasurer Grady Patterson. The General Assembly also has asked the court to let it join the suit. Hodges’ lawyers have called the suit a “waste of judicial re sources.” They said Condon can’t legally sue the governor and that the vetoes were allowed because Hodges requested the money back instead of signing an exec utive order. The governor, who typically is represented by the attorney gen eral in lawsuits, only has a full time legal staff of two and has hired the Columbia-based Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough law firm, which wrote the latest filing. Bush defends tax cut decision CRAWFORD, TEXAS (AP) - President Bush defended his de cision to cut taxes just as the economy took a downturn, say ing the spending habits of Congress pose a much greater threat to the federal budget sur plus and the nation’s fiscal re covery. Bush used his weekly radio ad dress Saturday to repeat the warning he uttered a day earlier: Lawmakers must curtail spend ing whiie the economy weathers its current slowdown. “The greatest threat to our budget outlook is the danger that Congress will be tempted this fall to break its earlier commitments by spending too much,” Bush said. “The old way in Washington is to believe that the more you spend, the more you care,... My administration takes a new approach. We want to spend your hard-earned money as carefully as you do.” Bush called his tax cut “the right policy at exactly the right time to boost our sagging econo my,” and predicted, “the faster our economy grows, the stronger the federal budget will be.” He said his administration is striving to make smart decisions on how to spend the American people’s money, noting a new re port by the Office of Management and Budget that identified 14 sys temic management problems in the federal government that lead to waste. Event chronology MONDAY ♦ 9.55 p.m., 800 block of Laurens St.: After dinner in Five Points, Messer and co-worker Richard Ferguson are shot while running from two of the four men responsible for the crimes. ♦ 10:15 p.m.,.7091 Essex Ave.: George M Lynch, 18, of 8025 Baysprings Road, is robbed of $20 by two men in a Volvo. ♦ 11:25 p.m., 59 Mallet Hill Road: Tracy A. Gross, 20, and two others are robbed in the garage of her home by three men. ♦ 11:45 p.m., 2432 Alpine Road: Deborah Cornelius, 43, is robbed at her home by two men with handguns. TUESDAY ♦ 10:20 a.m., Two Notch Road: Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott sideswipes a gray Volvo while pursuing a bank robber. The car was driven by Abram Douglas Braveboy, 18, of 2113 Tammy Drive. ♦ 5 p.m., Sheriffs Department: Dorothy Burgess, Braveboy’s mother, reports the wreck involving her gray Volvo. Detectives recognize her son’s name and the description of the vehicle in connection to previous crimes. They question Braveboy and charge him in Messer’s death and other crimes. ♦ 11 p.m., 8308 Old Percival Road and 7920 Spring Flower Road: Deputies arrest Cichey Levar Mayo and Bryan Murray, both 17, at their homes. WEDNESDAY ♦ 8 a.m., 125 Leeside Circle: Deputies arrest Willie James Murphy Jr., 16, as he returns home. ♦ 2 p.m., Richland County Sheriffs Office: Authorities release the names of the four men charged with the crime. THURSDAY ♦ 7:30 p.m., 9200 N. Skokie Blvd. in Skokie III.: Services are held for Messer in Piser Weinstein Menorah Chapel. FRIDAY ♦Authorities used ballistics tests to verify that weapons linked to the four suspects were used in the shootings. Shooting Four teens could face death penalty CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 bullet that went through both of his lungs and his heart. A shot from the .25-caliber struck his leg. Ferguson was treated and re leased from Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital for a shot in the arm from the .25-caliber weapon. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott also confirmed that the seri al number on the .380-caliber matches that of a handgun report ed stolen from a home at Fort Jackson. Authorities refused to say which of the four men shot Messer and Ferguson, noting that they all face murder charges. “They all had prior knowl i 1 z edge,” Lott told The State. “This is a group effort.” According to arrest warrants, the four teens admitted to three robberies committed soon after the shooting. Lott broke the case when he hit the Volvo while pursuing a bank robber in a high-speed chase. The Volvo was registered to Braveboy’s mother, Dorothy Burgess, who reported the acci dent to authorities. Braveboy was questioned and charged Tuesday afternoon with Messer’s death: Mayo and Murray were arrest ed later that night, and Murphy was arrested the next morning. Even though the murder of a federal employee while he is work ing is a federal crime, U.S. attor neys haven’t decided whether to file federal charges. 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