It may be weeks — perhaps months — before a three-judge panel issues a ruling on whether lawmakers drew N.C. voting districts legally, or whether the legislative districts are partisan gerrymanders. The three-judge panel handling Common Cause v. Lewis at the trial level could obviously rule either way: for the defendants — who represent Republicans...
In a landmark victory for N.C. Republican lawmakers, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled gerrymandered congressional districts are a political issue, which federal courts should not decide as a matter of law. In writing the 5-4 majority opinion for Common Cause v. Rucho, Chief Justice John Roberts said drawing district boundaries inevitably and intentionally includes...
The parties suing to prevent four amendments from appearing in the Nov. 6 general election are facing a high hurdle, a constitutional scholar says. When it comes to writing ballot language for constitutional amendments, the N.C. Constitution defers to the General Assembly, “Whereas other states have specific constitutional language or very detailed statutory language that...
Voters will decide on six constitutional amendments in the general election, including those involving victims rights, hunting rights, and a photo ID requirement to vote. More amendments will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot than in any single election since the adoption of the 1971 N.C. Constitution. Republicans could be using the amendments to drum...
When Roy Cooper was elected governor of North Carolina, he faced an uphill battle to fulfill any of his campaign promises. Republicans held a supermajority in the General Assembly, essentially taking away Cooper’s veto power — his main form of leverage. Then in a special session before Cooper was inaugurated, legislators passed several measures further limiting Cooper’s power. They removed the governor’s ability to appoint a majority to...
Fights between Gov. Roy Cooper and the N.C. General Assembly often involve disputed provisions in the state's governing document.
The Obama administration is treading on thin legal ice in its effort to get Gov. Pat McCrory and the UNC system to eliminate the bathroom privacy provisions spelled out in House Bill 2, a Campbell University law professor says. On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department sent a letter to state officials maintaining that the law...
RALEIGH — The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and it trumps state constitutions and state laws. Does this mean the federal government can tell state governments what to do? John Dinan, professor of political science at Wake Forest University, addressed that question during a recent presentation for the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society. He also discussed the issue with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.
Yes, the state’s new congressional map would benefit Republicans. No, it does not represent some unprecedented attempt to return to Jim Crow politics.
It’s about time you give Carolina Journal’s new room a view.
