Several state Supreme Court justices showed skepticism during a Wednesday hearing over the constitutionality of a recent law establishing “retention” elections for appellate court judges. While the state’s solicitor general urged the justices to reverse a lower court ruling and allow the retention law to take effect, the plaintiffs’ attorney…
The state’s highest court on Tuesday took up the issue of whether the N.C. General Assembly exceeded its constitutional limits when it revoked the Town of Boone’s extraterritorial zoning powers in 2014. Lauren Clemmons of the N.C. Department of Justice and Watauga County Attorney Stacy Eggers IV urged the N.C.
In a dispute pitting political speech against the authority of public agencies, in January the N.C. Supreme Court ruled that a sheriff could fire a deputy for refusing to make a contribution to the sheriff’s re-election campaign. In a separate opinion, the court refused to determine whether non-deputy employees of…
President Obama’s decision to nominate a replacement for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia might define his legacy, will further polarize partisan electoral politics, and could swing the direction of the court and the Senate, Duke University academics say. John Aldrich and David Rohde, professors of political science,…
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, and the resulting 4-4 philosophical divide among the remaining justices, likely swung Chief Justice John Roberts’ decision not to issue a stay in North Carolina’s congressional redistricting case, say several political science professors who follow the electoral process. The General Assembly’s decision substituting…
Members of the Joint Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting sparred for 4 ½ hours Tuesday in a meeting featuring mostly party-line votes and intense reactions from stunned Democrats after Republican leaders declared they would omit any and all racial considerations when redrawing congressional districts. Passions rose when Republicans said their…
Voters, candidates, and political partisans exchanged sharply divided views and occasional vitriol Monday in a marathon public hearing about North Carolina congressional redistricting in the wake of a federal court decision placing the scheduled March 15 primary in jeopardy. Members of the General Assembly’s Joint Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting…
A State Highway Patrol trooper’s hat worth $50 lost almost seven years ago has evolved into a closely watched case about the conditions under which state employees can be fired. And despite a December ruling by the state’s highest court, the matter remains far from settled. On March 29, 2009,…
While North Carolina waits on the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on congressional redistricting, the N.C. Supreme Court has closed its books (for now) on legislative and congressional redistricting. According to North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders, the N.C. Supreme Court denied a motion by plaintiffs to rehear the case. In…
The U.S. Supreme Court will take a second look at a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s 2011 redistricting plan, as the state made an emergency appeal to the justices to stay a trial-court order invalidating the 1st and 12th Congressional Districts. Without a delay, it’s unlikely congressional primaries can be held…
