Aug. 4, 2006 — St. Croix senators are objecting to a suit, which they say Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has filed to keep the V.I. Supreme Court from being established on St. Croix.
According a press release sent Thursday from the Legislature, Sens. Pedro "Pete" Encarnacion, Juan Figueroa-Serville, Neville James and Ronald E. Russell said Turnbull should stop trying to "circumvent" the law, which was put into place last year after senators voted to override Turnbull's veto of an amendment which established the Supreme Court on St. Croix.
"…The Governor should not circumvent the override…of his veto, and he should allow the law to stand," senators said in the release.
Senators also said that the Revised Organic Act of 1954– which establishes that Charlotte Amalie is the territory's capital and "seat of government"–is not "applicable" to the creation or formation of an appellate or Supreme Court in the Virgin Islands. They said the U.S. Congress, which established the V.I District Court, instead gave the Legislature in 1984 the full authority and right to create an appellate, or lower, court.
Because of this, senators said they are urging Turnbull "not to use the meager resources of the territory to pursue this issue."
The Source has been unable to verify whether Turnbull has, or will be, filing the injunction. As of publication time, no press release regarding the matter had been sent from Government House.
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