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North Carolina’s Supreme Court Is Poised to Hand Power to Republicans

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North Carolina’s Supreme Court Is Poised to Hand Power to Republicans


The North Carolina Supreme Courtroom’s determination to rehear a case on gerrymandering—that it simply determined final 12 months—is a canary-in-the-coal mine sign of simply how emboldened judges now really feel about blatantly politicizing their judicial selections.

In February 2022, the state’s excessive courtroom struck down Republican-drawn congressional and legislative maps as violations of the North Carolina Structure within the case of Harper v. Corridor. The courtroom reasoned that the GOP plan violated the North Carolina Structure’s equal safety, free speech, and freedom of meeting clauses by seemingly giving 10 of the 14 Home of Consultant seats to Republicans, regardless that voters divide about 50-50 Democrat versus Republican within the state general.

However lower than a 12 months later, the courtroom determined to rehear the case, which it did on March 14, and the identical courtroom now seems poised to overrule its personal barely 1-year outdated precedent. Effectively, virtually the identical courtroom.

It’s nonetheless the North Carolina Supreme Courtroom, however final 12 months’s state elections modified the courtroom’s political majority from Democrat to Republican. Even though the political affiliation of judges is just not a authorized foundation for overturning circumstances, that appears to be the one motive the case is being reheard.

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Sound acquainted? Recall the dissenting opinion by Supreme Courtroom Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan in Dobbs v. Jackson the place the bulk struck down the precedent of Roe v. Wade that had stood for a half-century: “No latest developments, in both legislation or truth, have eroded or forged doubt on these precedents. Nothing, briefly, has modified… The Courtroom reverses course as we speak for one motive and one motive solely: as a result of the composition of this Courtroom has modified.”

The brand new Republican majority of the North Carolina Supreme Courtroom is following SCOTUS’ lead by doing the identical factor.

Solely twice up to now 30 years has the state excessive courtroom granted requests for rehearings. As identified by North Carolina Supreme Courtroom Justice Anita Earls—one of many two remaining Democrats on that courtroom—there isn’t a foundation for rehearing the circumstances (there are two circumstances affecting voting rights which might be being reheard).

Mentioned Earls: “Nothing has modified since we rendered our opinion on this case on 16 December 2022: the authorized points are the identical; the proof is identical; and the controlling legislation is identical. The one factor that has modified is the political composition of the courtroom,” she wrote. “It took this courtroom only one month to ship a smoke sign to the general public that our selections are fleeting, and our precedent is simply as enduring because the phrases of the justices who sit on the bench.”

The potential significance and attain of those politically motivated rehearings is hardly restricted to North Carolina legislation, because the case is inextricably linked to Moore v. Harper—the case pending earlier than america Supreme Courtroom which is an enchantment of the North Carolina Supreme Courtroom determination from final 12 months.

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The arguments at SCOTUS have targeted upon the so-called “Unbiased State Legislature Concept” (“ILST”)—a principle which if upheld by SCOTUS would permit state legislatures unreviewable energy to move legal guidelines affecting federal elections. Such an influence would have allowed Trump lawyer John Eastman’s principle of substituting Trump state elector slates to overturn the 2020 election outcomes and set up Trump as president for a second time period.

The underlying rationales between the state and SCOTUS issues are the identical: Republican majorities need the ability to do what they please with election legal guidelines.

One Republican North Carolina justice prompt by his questioning there was no approach for courts to correctly adjudicate “truthful” election maps, and thus, final energy ought to reside within the state legislatures, with no skill of both the chief (the governor) or judiciary to intrude. A Democratic justice pushed again basically asking how equity may be determined by a legislature if that legislature is elected unfairly. Be aware that the Supreme Courtroom’s 2019 determination in Rucho v. Frequent Trigger held that gerrymandering is a political query, not reviewable by federal courts, and left to the state legislatures and state courts to determine.

The place taken within the North Carolina rehearing—in addition to the ILST argument earlier than SCOTUS—would remove the state courts (and the governors), leaving solely state legislatures to make these selections.

Recognizing the influence of the North Carolina Supreme Courtroom rehearings, SCOTUS has requested for added briefing from each the Justice Division and the events petitioning the nation’s highest courtroom for added briefings on how the choice to rehear the circumstances might have an effect on the choice in SCOTUS.

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This request presents Legal professional Common Merrick Garland’s DOJ with a vital strategic determination in whether or not to ask SCOTUS to attend for the result of the rehearing by the North Carolina Supreme Courtroom. Such a request, if granted, would basically punt the ILST determination to a different day.

The draw back of such an motion is that it would permit North Carolina to determine that its personal state legislatures have unreviewable energy to impose unfair election legal guidelines. However the potential upside is that such a call could be restricted to North Carolina. In distinction, a ruling by SCOTUS that state legislatures have supreme energy would have an effect on your complete nation.

Up to now, SCOTUS might be counted on to undertake a minimalist method to jurisprudence by avoiding controversial selections at any time when potential. The granting of a rehearing within the North Carolina case gives such an out for SCOTUS. However it’s an out that the younger activist group of Federalist Society-weaned conservative justices, who present little urge for food for an incremental method to vary, could also be unlikely to take.

Their instance might have impressed the bare energy seize by the newly minted Republican majority on the North Carolina Supreme Courtroom, however SCOTUS justices’ energy is way more harmful due to their life tenure. State supreme courts—even when they sway and reverse themselves with every change in political fortunes—are nonetheless topic to the need of the individuals by elections and time period limits. The SCOTUS justices know no such limitations.



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North Carolina

North Carolina man charged after shooting in Danville road rage incident

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North Carolina man charged after shooting in Danville road rage incident


DANVILLE, Va. – A North Carolina man is facing multiple felony charges connected to a road rage incident in Danville Tuesday, according to the Danville Police Department.

Police said at around 4 p.m. Tuesday, officers responded to a report of shots fired in the area of the 700 block of Halifax Road. A short time later, a victim reported that his vehicle had been shot into during a road rage incident.

Through information gathered at the scene, the suspect vehicle and driver, 28-year-old Marlowe Cobbs, of Milton, North Carolina, were identified and found in Caswell County, North Carolina.

Cobbs has been extradited back to Virginia, and was charged with the following:

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  • Shooting from a vehicle

  • Attempted aggravated malicious wounding

  • Use of a firearm in commission of a felony

  • Discharging a firearm in public

  • Child endangerment

  • Shooting at an occupied vehicle

He’s being held in the Danville City Jail without bond.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Danville Police Department by either calling patrol at 434-799-6510 option 4, investigations at 434-799-6508 option 1, and option 1 again, calling 911, contacting Crime Stoppers at 434-793-0000, approach any officer you see, through social media, via email crimetips@danvilleva.gov, or use our crime tips app CARE at www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=818#.

Copyright 2024 by WSLS 10 – All rights reserved.



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NC Republicans call on election officials to testify about treatment of third-party candidates

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NC Republicans call on election officials to testify about treatment of third-party candidates


North Carolina elections officials are being called to testify before a legislative committee to talk about their treatment of third-party candidates.

The North Carolina State Elections Board on June 26 blocked requests by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Constitution Party candidate Randall Terry to be listed as presidential candidates on the November ballot. Democrats who control the board said they want more time to review each candidate’s petition before making a final decision at a later date.

On Tuesday, leaders of North Carolina’s House Oversight and Reform Committee sent a letter to Alan Hirsch, chairman of the state elections board, asking him to testify before their committee on July 9. State Reps. Jake Johnson and Harry Warren, co-chairs of the committee, wrote to Hirsch:

“At the hearing, please be prepared to address this information, including:

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  • The grounds by which the Board denied the petitions of these political parties, even after timely submission.
  • Anticipated schedule to resolve questions on the submitted petitions.
  • Any communications the Board has had with third-party organizations concerning its decision to leave these political parties off the ballot.
  • Any underlying or perceived political motivations the Board may have to exclude these names from the ballot.”

Johnson and Warren also invited other board members and Karen Brinson Bell, the board’s executive director. Paul Cox, the state board’s general counsel, told WRAL Wednesday that the hearing is still up in the air.

The state elections board plans to meet on July 9 and continue reviewing the third-party petitions, Cox said.

“My understanding is that the committee is looking to reschedule, because they weren’t aware that the State Board was planning to meet next Tuesday to consider petitions,” Cox said in an email. The board is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. on July 9.

Staff for the legislative committee leaders didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The legislators’ request comes a day after Republican members of Congress also inquired about the board’s decision. On Monday, Republican chairmen of the House Administration and House Judiciary committees asked the state elections board to provide them with documents and other information related to the board’s decision.

The committees “are concerned that the NCSBE’s decision was politically motivated and may have been done to influence the 2024 presidential election by limiting the candidates for which voters may cast their ballots,” Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, wrote in a letter to the state elections board. Jordan chairs the judiciary committee and Steil chairs the administration committee.

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The board intends to provide the committees with the documents they seek, Cox confirmed earlier this week. Many of them are already publicly available on the state board’s website.

North Carolina voters have signaled that they’d like to have options for president besides Republican Donald Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden. The board’s review of third-party candidates comes as Democrats have raised concerns about Biden’s ability to defeat Trump following his heavily-scrutinized performance in a recent debate.

The three candidates petitioning to get their names on North Carolina’s ballot are hoping to do so by having their political parties formally recognized by the elections board. Kennedy would represent the We The People Party, West would represent the Justice For All Party, and Terry would represent the Constitution Party.

Board members raised different issues with each petition.

Democrats on the state elections board expressed concern that Kennedy is using the We the People Party to circumvent state law — and that the proposed party doesn’t represent a group of voters with a specific set of policy beliefs.

In North Carolina, state law makes it harder for individual candidates to get ballot access than for new political parties. Board members asked We The People representatives about a script they provided to volunteers, which said the purpose of the petition was to create a new political party and get Kennedy’s name on the North Carolina ballot.

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As for the Justice For All petition, board members said they worried that volunteers misled signatories about the purpose of the group, which espouses liberal ideals. West is a former honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Italo Medelius, chair of Justice For All Party of North Carolina, told the board at its June 26 meeting that its petition materials may have been accessed by Trump supporters. The party’s petition, board members noted, should be signed by people who want to advocate for a common set of beliefs.

The Constitution Party’s petition, meanwhile, is hung up on a technical issue.

State law requires party petitions to include a legitimate address. The group’s petition listed the address of a former residence for Al Pisano, chair of the state party.

Pisano told board members that he wasn’t sure if he needed to change the address. The party was on North Carolina’s ballot in 2020. Its presidential nominee, Don Blankenship, received 7,549 votes of the 5.5 million cast.

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Pisano said that he had previously reached out to elections board staff about the address issue and didn’t receive an answer. Board members delayed their decision on the Constitution Party to review records exchanged by Pisano and board staff.

Democratic board member Siobhan Millen said that, before the address issue came up, she had expected the party’s petition to be “probably a slam dunk.”



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NC governor to participate in White House meeting amid concerns over Biden’s debate performance

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NC governor to participate in White House meeting amid concerns over Biden’s debate performance


North Carolina’s Gov. Roy Cooper plans to participate virtually in a White House meeting today with other Democratic governors across the country and President Joe Biden, according to the governor’s office.

The meeting, confirmed by the White House, comes after a group of Democratic governors talked on Monday about concerns over the current president’s run this November without the president, USA TODAY reports. Much of the concern surrounds Biden’s debate performance last week where he was seen freezing and stumbling over his words. Biden, 81, has even told reporters it was not his best performance.

Governor call: Biden to meet with Democratic governors in wake of debate debacle, calls to leave ’24 race

Despite public calls for Biden to step down from the race and a flurry of potential replacements thrown out, Biden has not indicated he would do so. In fact, during a rally in Raleigh the day after the debate Biden told visitors “I know how to do this job.”

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