Maybe Lincoln should have just let the traitorous secessionists go after all, since they still have no concept of democracy, preferring oligarchy and the tyranny of oppression. It is like there is a time warp in the old confederate states when it comes to human rights.
4
Writing a pro se complaint to meet a NC filing deadline, I then hired an attorney to represent me in Buncombe County, Asheville NC.
The hearing was held before Judge Powell, who gave wide leverage to the attorneys representing Biltmore Farms LLC (Jack Cecil, CEO and Vanderbilt descendant).
Biltmore Farms LLC created a hazard on their property causing me to fall and sustain a head, neck and back injury. Due to a NC common law, Biltmore's insurers, Hartford, paid little. Hartford's final determination was days prior to court filing deadline, which meant I wrote the complaint.
During the hearing, Judge Powell allowed Biltmore's attorney to repeatedly focus on aspects of my complaint which were procedural vs the substance that Biltmore created the hazard that caused my fall.
My attorney stated that she understood Biltmore objected to how the complaint was written, and requested that Judge Powell allow her to write it and present it.
Judge Powell dismissed the complaint one week later.
Biltmore Farms LLC was at fault and responsible for the loss of my health, my home, my business and my savings.
Justice in NC, in Asheville, in a Buncombe County Courthouse, before Judge Powell, did not exist for me.
Biltmore Farms LLC, and Hartford Insurance already had the support of Judge Powell; to give them more leverage would ensure further justice denied to individuals.
My experience, and the NC common law, is detailed in a change.org petition here:
http://chn.ge/1fhM4si
2
True merit selection, by an independent commission recommending a list to the governor for choice, works. Period.
Insane to kill our institutions this way.
You won't always be in power. Really.
1
Ah, the ghost of Jim Crow appears again. You only thought it was squelched but the true believers of limiting citizen particpation always seem to find ways to withhold democracy from those they deem not worthy.
2
To say Republicans are correcting yearslong imbalances due to population changes is disingenuous, especially since the population of NC has been turning it purple over the last decade. To say that the Democrats did it and now it's our turn is acting like elementary school children rather than rational adults.There are terms that apply to a minority controlling all the branches of government so the majority is not heard and none of them are the representative democracy our forefathers created. Is there no end to the far right usurpation of power in NC?
1
Why should the Courts care what "Racial" Category you are
given we are told that Race does not exist.
Why should one's political party have any force in how districts
are drawn - where are Political Parties mentioned in the Constitution ?
Is this the future of America - wholesale incompetence and corruption not only in the legislature and administrative branches but now in the courts ?
Judges, like the rest of the American political system, are more partisan than in any recent time. All this proposal does is to give the voters a better idea of in which direction the partisanship lies.
The second most important responsibility of the upper courts is to make certain that prejudice in the lower courts is under control which means there should be none that is allowed. If any judge is found to be prejudiced and hence does not follow the legal rules the rest of us must follow, this being a violation of the some of the basic laws of the nation, they need to be charged and if found guilty sentenced to life in prison. They, being at the top of the laws in place, must be subject to even greater sentences than the rest of us lower legal knowledge individuals. Judges should have nothing to do with the political system in place at any time. From the bottom all the way up to the Supreme Court they are there to make certain that the laws of the nation/states are followed and understand that they also are subject to the same laws.
As an American citizen I have serious doubts about the ability of most of us to get a fair trial or receive decent health care. Why? Because every little thing in America revolves around money and efficiency. It's so much more efficient to eliminate programs that help 99% of us. Saving money rather than spending it wisely has become the government's aim at every level. The voters aims at every level are to completely distrust the government because of GOP intransigence. Paralysis is the order of the day, not bipartisanship or working to better America for every person living here.
3
We have become a country where a well organized, and well funded minority are deciding what the future will look like. I want my country back!!
6
Yes, and they're called Republicans. The Republican party has learned how to 'mine' the racist, xenophobic, and anti-semitic underbelly of America.
You want 'your country back'? A country where white meant right. Males are the only ones 'capable' of making decisions for all. A country where, if your granddaddy didn't fight in the War of Northern Agression, you don't belong.
Well, scooter, your country is gone. And, it's not coming back. You will have these short term 'successes'. Mainly because the rest of the country did not think that you still even existed.
However, tRump's election to the presidency, and his appointment of his 'Champagne Cabinet', has awakened the sleeping giant. We The People, will force you and your ilk back into the holes and crevices you slunk from. The heart and soul of America will defeat you. America IS the great NOW. We are still the shining beacon hope and freedon in an ever crowded world.
We will not let you drag us back into the dark days of our history. Bigotry and hatred has, unfortunately, not been eliminated. But, by all that is holy, it will not become the law of the land again!
So, try your gerrymandering. Your usurping the Judiciary's role in counterbalancing the will of a few and rich, over the poor and many. You will not succeed.
We The People will stop you.
No commenter has mentioned North Carolina's fanatical right-wing billionaire, Art Pope, who for years has been financing the far-right Republican seizure of power in order to harm workers by giving people like himself free rein.
6
Politically, this state is a disgrace. Unless there is a major seat in play (governor, senator, or president) Democratic voters have been effectively disenfranchised in North Carolina. Our local congressman, Heath Schuler (a moderate Democrat) was re-districted out of his seat and replaced by Tea Partier Mark Meadows. We all know the fine work that Meadows has accomplished in Washington such as the last government shutdown.
Republicans are actually outnumbered in North Carolina by registered Democrats and Independents. Perhaps, that's why Republicans are so busy gerrymandering, neutering the duly-elected Democratic governor, and making it as difficult as possible for Democratic-leaning citizens to register and vote.
4
Phil Berger and his sidekick Tim Moore could not care less about democracy. They are two power hungry men who represent rural countries. I only hope we can continue to win fights against them, but it is exhausting.
3
Each slick move for partisan advantage tears a little more at the fabric of our democracy. The North Carolina Legislature has gone far off the rails and will lead us to a place barely recognizable as a representative government for all.
14
Nice to know that North Carolina republicans feel it's their right to change the rules of the game to heavily favor themselves. In the 1930s it was called 'rigged voting' to discriminate against blacks at election time.
What do the Republicans of North Carolina call it now?
4
What is happening in N.C. is truly heartbreaking and disgraceful. The state offers so much with progressive policies that some attempt, however, the republican party is out of control. It will ruin this state as it becomes increasingly racists, backward, intolerant, and biased.
5
Where is America going? This approach to election of judges looks more like Russia, Turkey or China, where ideological correctness guides the process.
4
Maybe North Carolina needs to be placed under martial law. It has become the poster child for un-American behavior.
4
Rigging the Judiciary on behalf of one political party is not Justice or Democracy. We are on the brink and tested as never before as to whether we can preserve our hard won American government. Remember what Ben Franklin said when he emerged from the Constitutional Convention when a woman asked him: "Dr. Franklin, what have you wrought?" "A Republic", he replied, "if you can keep it".
7
This makes me sick. This cheating keep getting worse. North Carolina and other states need to stop this dangerous behavior.
7
A Stunning Un Democratic move. Shameful! Lincoln is spinning in his grave.
6
The question for me is, will republicans be stopped before they end the world?
9
One word. YES!
Fight FOR America!
RESIST
Typical. Republicans can't win on their message, so they resort to corruption. Who would want to be part of such a national disgrace?
11
Perhaps all these educated Republicans in North Carolina should take a remedial course in "Democracy".
4
Citizens vote for change and nothing changes. Is that Democracy?
1
Those who can't win elections look to lawsuits to impose their will. Is that democracy? No wonder that many now look for more information before voting for judges. The desire is to end the tyranny of a same group who refuse to follow the will of voters. And this it not about removing rights from anyone! It is about POLICY decisions that the voters want implemented!
3
Wow USA is becoming more UNAmerican every day.
7
North Carolina longing to be North Korea.
7
The North Carolina Confederacy continues to raise its ugly head as the insecure white supremacist fear the loss of their imaginary power over people.
6
Congrats NC!
You are now indistinguishable from SC.
What an achievement!
7
One person, one vote, one time.
1
I hope that Amazon, is paying attention to this and does NOT locate their 2nd headquarters in Charlotte.
7
North Carolina used to be a really cool place to live.
Used to be....
5
And the North Carolina white supremacists finally take off their hoods. Apparently, three separate branches of government were one too many for the closet neo-Nazis serving in the legislature.
8
How sad that the role of an independent judiciary, inherent to a system of checks and balances, has been subsumed by partisan politics. Judicial behaviorism is hardly a new concept, but the steady drumbeat of the march toward a system of plutocracy and autocracy does not bode well for America's future as a republic.
5
I used to contemplate retiring in a poor banana republic if my savings were insufficient to sustain me in the states. Now, thanks never ending GOP corruption, I can look forward to retiring in a poor banana republic without ever leaving home.
6
This is rather moot for most voters. Not only do the parties inform their members via their websites and mailings but the newspapers print biographies of the judge candidates. It's very easy to pick out a candidate's party affiliation by what organizations he/she belongs to and who is endorsing them.
While I understand the sentiments of some of the commenters from outside North Carolina, the state is my home. It is not as simple for me to alter vacation or retirement plans. Action is required. First step is to eliminate the veto proof majority in the state legislature. Those who call North Carolina home must, MUST take action to combat the current legislators who are disenfranching many of our neighbors.
3
All judicial selection should be based on merit. Judges should never be appointed through the electoral process - partisan or non-partisan.
1
Wrong. So-called "merit" is just a word for judicial appointments as political payoffs. I know whereof I speak; I've worked at NC General Assembly, been married to a legislator, seen the political judicial appointment process from the inside. Merit has nothing to do with the appointments.
5
Voting for sheriffs and judges has always appeared to be an unusual and disquieting practice to CDNs whose systems are meant to ensure politics has absolutely no part in law enforcement or the courts. But the line American’s are crossing with this move coupled with the gerrymandering that is clearly in evidence in the US is terrifying. For heavens sakes wake up America and review that constitution that you like to claim is so sacred. This is madness.
3
When this goes through...the federal courts sure are going to busy overturning state courts' decisions left and right...
1
In a democracy power is widely distributed among the people. In a dictatorship power is concentrated in the hands of the few. In the 18th and 19th centuries North Carolingians chose democracy, and North Carolina remains a democracy today.
We residents of the other 49 united states recognize the imperfections of our society, and, we will continue to work to cure them.
However, if the people of North Carolina are no longer interested in "liberty and justice for all" and allow their legislature convert their state into a dictatorship, then: we will not visit their state; we will not purchase their products and services, and, we will not offer them the opportunity to purchase ours. Further, we invite North Carolina to secede from the USA, and we promise to help those seeking refuge from oppression in North Carolina to make their homes among us, the still free people of America.
7
And all of this is being done by a state legislature made up of "representatives" "elected declared " using maps that have been declared illegal. The damage these people have done and are doing is beyond measure.
4
For the GOP it's not about justice, it's about power, it's about winning.
3
NYT "Judges in state courts as of this year must identify their party affiliation on ballots, making North Carolina the first state in nearly a century to adopt partisan court elections."
Changes in the political system do not happen by chance or accident. The decision of North Carolina lawmakers in adopting partisan court elections points to a degradation of democracy in America.
The election of Donald Trump reflects the state of polarization and rage existent in the American society today.
3
Any judge or potential judge worth his or her salt should register as an independent. Justice is "blind" for a reason. That is at least as basic to our democracy as the Second Amendment.
2
The article fails to mention two bills recently introduced in the NC general assembly that would reduce the terms for elected judges from four or eight years to two years, starting in 2018.
2
The element of race, besides political affiliation, in these maneuvers is appalling and indicative of the lingering racism that afflicts the nation, all the political rhetoric to the contrary notwithstanding!
2
Absolutely for election of judges. Absolutely against partisan judges.
I'm overwhelmed by the frequency of stories about Republicans twisting what was once competitive democracy. Now they have packed governments, rigged courts, guns aplenty, and throwing billions of dollars at the military to buy their loyalty. Should I be paranoid? Would you call me crazy to think the worst? This was a good article that makes it obvious that the Republicans are totalitarians duping the nation, and their television industry is lovin' it as they cart the billions to the banks. Fascism has taken hold in America as we kumbaya Democrats just fade away as a weak vestige of what we once were. Bring in the men. I miss Ted Kennedy, LBJ, and all the other dominant men that fought for us. I assure you, I'm not a sexist but the big lesson of 2016 was that you can't expect a woman to win a fight against a man.
1
Especially if a large number of women also cannot vote or vote for the man. I call those voters blind
Back to the courts we go.
The NC Republican majority in the legislature, in general, and Phil Berger in particular, are not just pressing their partisan advantage. They disdain democracy almost more than they disdain all "those people" who oppose them. There is a reason people of their ilk have an affinity for Vladimir Putin. They aspire to model NC "democracy" after Russia. Most laughable is Berger's consistent denunciation of government, as you can no longer find a single family member of his who is not firmly latched onto the government teat for life, as he takes in, literally, tens of millions of dollars in political payoffs.
Not a bad gig if you can get it.
2
We are thankful for the federal courts in North Carolina.
This state has a core of politicians and companies that does not want to have to recognize there are many social changes happening.
North Carolina currently , will have to be dragged, kicking and screaming into a new and hopefully, more representative state government in the coming decades.
The good old boy network is beyond a smile and a wink in their dealings and has lowered themselves to taking a 'king of the hill'' stance in trying to keep the power.
We hope the federal courts can stay unaffiliated and focused on the actual law and protect the citizens of North Carolina .
13
You have to admit, the Republicans are clever and are getting better and better at disrupting the rule of law and with it the democratic process our founders envisioned. And it's not just North Carolina although Southern States do have a propensity for rigging the system along racial lines. This used to be watched carefully by the Department of Justice, but they're now the last agency under it's current leadership, or lack thereof to be responsible for protecting the rule of law.
Gerrymandering has now taken on a broad new definition with seemly rational explanations by those who would continue the redistricting along partisan lines. When Republicans only get 46% of the vote in any given district and the majority of the seats are still taken by the party that lost, it's clearly a problem and threat to democracy. Of course they don't see it that way at all and will continue until checked by the courts which as the article alludes to are now being undermined by State Legislatures. It's a brilliant plan. For them. And once the courts are stacked with judges acceptable to the good ole boys they'll be able to once again enact unconstitutional laws unimpeded by those pesky liberals that actually want fairness and democracy. Even if democrats rally on election day it won't matter.
Our country under Republican leadership, or control, is quickly headed toward an authoritarian state. I fear for the nation and the integrity we once had in the eyes of the world.
30
Nobody can honestly doubt that North Carolina Republicans are villainous both in their agenda and in how they are rigging the system to carry it out. This point of this article should perhaps instead have been that North Carolina Republicans are lazy and incompetent. They could have purchased the judges they wanted by massive campaign funding, and plenty of libel and slander. This has worked in other states. Then they would have had the best judges money could buy.
15
Does anyone doubt that the GOP is the enemy of democracy? Trump is only a symptom of the disease.
7
This is not a new occurrence. The NSDAP (National Socialist Deutsche Arbeits Partei) worked exactly this way very effectively in Germany in the 1930s, and totally transformed the way that country was run and governed on all levels.
That political faction is better known by their acronym: Nazis.
We seem to be heading down that road.
19
The mantra of returning power to the states is belied by North Carolina. Some states can only be trusted, it seems, with inspiring right-thinking people to leave. Which may be what their GOP leaders want.
9
"Nearly $20 million was spent by outside groups on TV ads in State Supreme Court races last year, often attacking justices’ decisions..."
When the Supreme Court, including Anton Scalia, decided that one person one vote was deficient for their kind of democracy they opened the door to taking democracy to the taxidermist. They are not stupid people. They realized that allowing massive amounts of money to pour into the channels of propaganda would give millionaires and billionaires influence via propaganda campaigns that would make the Soviets and 30s Germans whimper in admiration. Hence Citizens United (or more accurately divided).
I wouldn't be surprised if Koch money was paying for all sorts of hunting trips, speeches, dinners and any event that could be cloaked in the deceit of being for education prior to the decision.
There are people who want to gut democracy in this nation. They are using the religious right, racists, so-called libertarians and any one else who is willing to believe whatever promises are tendered. What none of these groups realize is that they are pawns.
They are simply being used by a cabal of super wealthy, who virtually own thinks tanks and George Mason University so that they have a cloak of academia to back up what amounts to destruction of anything resembling democracy. North Carolina is just one example.
43
Dave: Citizens United has nothing to do with voting rights, and the late Justice Scalia was not the sole or deciding vote, and he was not even the Chief Justice. To blame only one Justice for a decision is unfair.
Also: the Kochs are very rich -- but so are Warren Buffet, George Soros, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos. And they are politically very active liberals who donate hundreds of millions to their pet causes. Why does THAT not disturb you? The truth is -- you do not mind money in politics -- so long as it is lefties spending that money to impose their social engineering on society.
2
Lily: NC is not backwards, despite what the GOP has been doing. There are many vibrant progressive, tolerant communities in most of the cities and many moderate-sized towns. The Research Triangle Park has been here for decades and is a high-tech research and development area. UNC-CH, NC State, and Duke University and the whole UNC system are excellent schools. Asheville is a booming city with many artists and musicians. What is backwards is the GOP since they took control in the 2010 election with the help of the Koch brothers. The census happened in 2010, so after they took control, they gerrymandered the districts to retain control. There are roughly as many Democrats as Republicans in the state. Trust me, a great many people who live here are extremely upset with what is going on. NC was not this way for many decades before 2010.
27
Sorry - once again a reply meant for a commenter showed up as a regular comment. Pretty sure I hit the reply button under the intended recipient.
2
This is much better-- your remarks are up front as they should be.
6
Yes, North Carolina has much that is progressive, open, and sophisticated, far more so than most of the other states of the old Confederate--now Republican--South. All the more frightening that the Republican party can show its uglier side and wreak so much havoc with the state's democratic system. At some point the federal Constitutional guarantee of a democratic political system in every state needs to be invoked. This kind of local nullification of what all United States citizens have a constitutionally-rooted right to expect from their state and local governments must be challenged.
23
The second step after choosing your voters is to choose your judges. After that: there is no limit to the ideological purity they can legislate.
21
Remember the pictures of proud first-time voters in foreign countries showing off their ink-stained forefingers? It was often said in the articles that accompanied such pictures that the proof of a successful transformation to democracy wasn’t that first election but the second, when the incumbent party gave up their power if they lost. Many states in America are proving that they are inadequate to the task of preserving the democratic heritage given them. In most of those states, the incumbent party is the GOP. And that party, fueled by the wealth and committed to the agendas of their major donors, is increasingly a clear and present danger to not only the states they control but the nation as a whole as minority rule is cemented in place. The establishment of a politicized judiciary is not the only step, but it is a necessary step, for the GOP to create a power structure immune to the will of the people who oppose it.
Donald Trump is no accident. He is the embodiment of the forces unleashed by the GOP, forces that have escaped the control of the leaders who stoked them.
1
My husband and I had discussed visiting Asheville next year but I just don’t think we can give our money to this state.
20
These are Republicans today--lie, cheat, steal, because they are unfit to govern and have no practical solutions to real problems. They'll even go against the majority of voters. Your vote only counts if you vote Republican. If you vote Democratic, they'll just get a judge to nullify your vote. The GOP has truly come undone.
23
Once the judiciary has been politicized, it is no longer independent. You have then given up the right to call your government a democracy. You have now joined the ranks of nominal democracies such as Singapore.
35
It will take considerable time and in the interim much damage will be done to North Carolina, but eventually the vindictive acts by Republicans in North Carolina will be found unconstitutional and vacated. The other, more rational option is to refuse to allow them to drag the proud state of North Carolina through the mud and throw the bums out of office ASAP!
12
We keep trying to throw the bums out, but they have drawn districts that allow them to keep a strangle hold on the General Assembly. The current district lines were ruled unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, yet we are stuck with this illegal legislature who keep drawing the same messes. Today they throttle the courts; next session will see more attacks on voting rights. This GOP won't stop until NC is ruined, our reputation in tatters, our schools and universities broke, and our businesses fleeing the sinking ship.
34
What's good for the goose...is good for the gander. It sounds like Democrat sour grapes to me.
4
How about what's good for North Carolinians?
25
Oh, which democrat? I assume you have one in mind since you're using the singular noun.
9
What are you talking about? Which Democratic government has done this same thing? Examples? Or are you just here to stoke anger? Why don't you focus on your own fabulous military government which is obviously a far better example of democracy instead of making pronouncements about US "Democrat[ic] sour grapes".
1
This is going backwards at any cost. They will control judges, voters, the governor, anything to maintain a stranglehold on power. I see the day when this country divides and progressives decide that it is better to live in states that make sense and not in backward places such as North Carolina.
18
Lily, you and I already do live in such states. I once considered moving to NC but wouldn't now.
4
Bernard: I am a liberal who grew up in Philly, went to graduate school in NYC and have lived in Chapel Hill for 25 years. I am sure you're aware that the Raleigh/Durham/CH triangle has one of highest concentrations of Ph.D.s in the country and the RTP is one of the most vibrant business and biotech incubators in the world. An excellent symphony in Raleigh, a hoppin music scene in Durham, and a spring and fall that truly is the southern part of heaven.
So what's keeping you away? Are you scared of the 'other?'
In fact, it is precisely attitudes like yours - keep the progressives densely packed in coastal and/or urban areas and leave the rest of country to folks unlike yourself - that will keep the reactionaries in power for the foreseeable future.
And BTW, if NYC and the next two or three of the largest cities were excluded, there is strong evidence to suggest the voting patterns in New York State would be just as 'backward' as you claim they are here. It's like what is said about my birth state (PA): Boston at the east and west borders and Mississippi in the middle. Merica.
2
It's the age old saying: if you can't beat em, rig the system.
Also: we don't break the law, we make the law
easier to flout by controlling the interpretation of said law.
26
If you don't like the score change the rules. If you're still losing change the umpire. Republicans have no compunctions about disenfranchising voters, about marginalizing citizens who don't conform to their pure white Christian mold. The shameless bigotry has become a hallmark of the party that wants to win at any cost. And to what end? To bring back the good old days of the antebellum south. The good people in North Carolina need to coalesce behind candidates who are willing to join the 21st century, or at the very least the 20th.
46
I lived in Greensboro during my teens years and then went onto Chapel Hill for multiple degrees.
My family owned a home up in the western counties of Avery and Watagua. I own a house near Sylva in the southwestern mountains. I have family in Charlotte, Raleigh and Sedgefield.
I once had hope somewhere back in the 80s and 90s that North Carolina was on a pathway toward full decency.
But over the past 15 nears, I've noticed that the Fox News narrative, greed, myopia, racism and a smug hatred of the "guv'ment" and the "l'brill" media have made a roaring comeback.
I made three trip there in the past 9 months and I have finally concluded that I can't stand the pervasive mindlessness, racism, xenophia and the sugar-coded self-righteousness of Sunday church-goers.
I plan to sell my house and avoid visiting NC as much as possible and then some.
57
Ditto with a few changes in specifics.
7
From the same state legislature that targeted African-American voters with id laws and then became obsessed along with its former governor about bathrooms.
12
This is unconscionable.
As the saying goes, there oughta be a law .....
6
The NC Republicans failed in their effort to prevent us from electing a Democratic Governor and their crass gerrymandering was revealed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Now they're trying every tactic available to turn us into a perpetually red state.
48
This is so maddening to see happening here in Texas too. We need to mobilize mobilize mobilize and get those blue voters out to the polls!!! I'm still holding out hope someday TX will turn blue.
1
Every day the news is filled with stories that make me hate Republicans. As fast as they can, they are undoing the modest but fairly steady progress our country made over the past century. There are no good Republicans anymore.
57
No one can make you hate. No one else controls your feelings. Hate is toxic to your soul. Entertaining hate is like taking poison hoping that someone else will die. Charlottesville has seen the fruit of hate and categorical judgements of people recently. Was it good fruit?
7
We're reaching the point where we're going to need federal oversight for all states because of a few rogue states who don't respect the fact that we're supposed to be a democracy for all Americans and not just white straight Republicans. How can we call ourselves the leader of the free world and an example of the benefits of democracy when we allow this nonsense to go on. Democracies don't disenfranchise voters or deliberately hijack the government through gerrymandering and other partisan politics.
What is wrong with us. This is how Republics fail. They rot from within and before long turn authoritarian.
16
it isn't a few rogue states, it's all states where republicans control most of the levers of government.
7
This is from a page 1 story in the Times today,
<>
Many states in the North - especially Oregon - have a history of despicable behavior that would match any Southern atrocity, legislative or otherwise (I am a native Philadelphian.)
Republics fall from countless, accumulated causes. Certainly viewing others as 'rogue' while failing to incorporate one's very real neighbors under that moniker must be among them.
1
I just crossed North Carolina off my list of possible states to move to when I retire.
29
Good luck moving anywhere south of the Hudson River then.
4
The Hudson river runs from North to South.
7
Wouldn't that put you mid-ocean?
3
This is sadly a bad reflection on the State of North Carolina having fallen into the hands of right-wing fascists over the past several years. They want to essentially shut down one of the three branches of government that is supposed to serve as one of the checks and balances within the system of democratic government. By "shutting down," I mean they want political "loyalty" to the most conservative political causes/positions/factions. This is Tea Party fascism run amok. I'm grateful we at least have Gov. Cooper in office, although he's been hamstrung by the right-wing legislature. Maybe things will change with the 2018 election, and the balance of power will shift back in favor of American-style democracy rather than Russian-style fascism.
24
Pray you guys are able to mobilize the voters!!!
2
Something needs to be done about the judiciary, as a whole. More than ever, judges are required to make decisions about technology and facts that they are utterly ignorant of and easily misled. Likewise,judges are political creations and are just as corrupt as the politicians to whom they owe their jobs. Oregon’s judicial system is unbelievably corrupt, so I don’t see why North Carolina’s wouldn’t be any different. Politicians appointing judges creates that mess, but voters are not much better at selecting moral people to represent them.
6
GOP rule in North Carolina. Cheat to win, if you can't win cheat again!
31
Oh, North Carolina, stop whining.
You already have 51% of your population legally under your thumb: The women.
You are one of the "Southern States" that have never ratified the Equal Rights Amendment thereby denying Constitutional equality to ALL American women.
Why can't you just be satisfied with that?
Nevada wasn't - Nevada finally passed theirs on March 22, 2017, and THANK YOU VERY MUCH, NEVADA!
You, too, can join them and get a big thanks from me! (Don't you want that?)
You can do it because the ERA was once again introduced as a bill in your legislature, again this year. It's sitting right there, waiting for you!
Now, aren't you lucky!
No need for all of these shenanigans - just join the human race!
Here's the other states that should stop fully taxing citizens that are NOT legally equal:
Alabama
Arizona (get on that, McCain!)
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Louisiana
Mississippi
Missourn
NORTH CAROLINA!!!!!!
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Utah
Virgina
Quit your legal shenanigans.
If you want something "approved by voters" just offer them a chance to vote on full citizenship for the half of them that you have legally denied and forced to live under Jane Crow Laws!
(Or at least stop taxing them the full amount of a male because that's just plain old creepy!)
Just please, please - STOP WHINING!!!
11
Why would women want to be demoted to mere equality?
3
Because you can't live life fully on a pedestal.
5
Voting for the ERA today would be nothing but symbolic; the Amendment expired in 1983.
Whether a state has ratified the ERA (35 years ago!) or not, has nothing to do with equal rights laws today. The ERA itself is 44 years old -- and dead as a dodo -- and yet, women in the US have equal rights to men for a long time.
1
You get what you vote for.
You get what you stayed home and didn't vote for.
North Carolina remains a Confederate state.
20
Not fair, methinks. We did vote, do vote, and will vote. We are gerrymandered out of relevance. And "Confederate" doesn't really capture the issue here, which is the rise of more recent neoliberal Tea Party legislators, institutionalized racism that aims to keep the less educated even less so. We have many good people fighting the good fight, and remember, NC elected a Democrat for governor. We will not give up. It doesn't help to have people slam the populace of the whole state, as though everyone in it is equally ignorant and hateful. Peace.
20
Alas, would that it were so simple. Due to partisan gerrymandering, it is estimated that the veto proof majority enjoyed by republicans in the legislature is created by the 10% of North Carolinians who vote in the republican primary. Once the candidates get out of the primaries, which skew hard right, they are assured of victory in the general election. The will of the people of North Carolina is not reflected in the policies and actions of the legislature. Tragically, it will be up to the courts to remedy this. No amount of turnout can change the balance of power as districts are now drawn. The legislature knows this, which is why they are attacking the courts.
19
Rise up but you are in the situation you are in......and you folks were not powerless.
1
In Europe many many governments have changed dramatically. Look at the French, with much violence. These North Carolina republicans are just asking to be replaced with more moderate republicans. Economics will drive them out of office. It is just a matter of time.
3
Are you referring to the French Revolution that started in 1789?
Or something else?
1
This is a prime example of why the Justice Department used to oversee election rules in the southern states. North Carolina has a long history of racism and can't be trusted to run fair elections.
53
White Conservative Christians ensuring that only White Conservative Christians rule in North Carolina. As the article states, "Republicans say their goal is to correct yearslong imbalances from shifts in population......." In other words, if can no longer fairly win elections, let's legislate minorities into second class citizens of the state. And they call themselves Christian. They are as far from being Christian as you can get.
65
Amen!
7
Hey NC legislature, just go ahead and anoint one of you as King. Then, you can go around ignoring the courts and do anything you want, whenever you want, for as long as you want. Oh wait...you're already doing that. Except for the actual King thing. I think that would add the last royal touch to your little kingdom you've set up for all us uppity liberals and would be so much fun. You could just get rid of the state house and the governor's doghouse you've so generously allowed him to live in and move the King down to Tryon Palace. Yeah, something Down East would be fitting, back to the old places and ways ya'll loved so much in the good ol' days.
When I moved back to Chapel Hill in the 60s, they still had a little Klan thing going on run out of one of the popular restaurants (in secret of course). In Chapel Hill, which was about as liberal as you could get back then, but some of the other towns you'd pass through were blatantly ugly about certain people and ways. Always felt as if we had been steadily moving forward all these years, but then Trump and the NC GOP takeover happened. There were people out driving around blowing their horns and embracing in one town after Trump won. The Klan went out and held a flag out over one of the overpasses on I-85/40. We are a true purple state, but you wouldn't know it from the legislature.
We aren't all that far removed from the backwoods after all it seems, where courts didn't matter and justice was what one group said it was.
35
I remember this: a Democrat wins and the GOP in the state decides that they don't want him to be able to govern properly. Let's hope the voters remember this when North Carolina is a mess because the GOP decided that working with the elected governor wasn't on their agenda but thwarting him was.
And yes, things have gotten to the point where every move is seen as partisan. Welcome to the Ungovernable States of America.
38
Well, that approach worked with Obama. Didn't it?
1
North Carolina got rid of their extremist Republican governor, and elected a Democrat. The extremist legislature responded by undermining the Governor's powers. In Arizona, we had a similar legislature. The leader of that legislature overstepped his authority and was forced out. What we are left with is a more moderate Republican legislature and a relatively moderate Republican governor. We got rid of the nuts, but in a red state, hopes that the rejection of Republican extremism will lead to Democrat rule are probably futile. We are better off, but we're not where we should be.
27
Politicized? The 9th circuit court is the definition of 'politicized!
5
Why? The conservative meme that the 9th circuit is some sort of outlier regarding overturned decisions is false and has been debunked many times. You can do it yourself using the actual data. There's nothing complicated about calculating some simple ratios.
17
The Ninth Circuit consistently sides with the rights of the oppressed and underrepresented in gender, race, sexual orientation, workers' rights, environmental protections, and more. These are exactly the constituents that need judicial protection of the law that was passed by legislatures. That you exclaim "politicized!" to judicial decisions that expand rights to others beyond privileged white heterosexual Christian males and the big businesses they run says more far about you than the Ninth Circuit.
9
left coast finch: so it is OK for the 9th Circuit Court to be politicized -- hard left -- but not for the North Carolina legislature to be right wing?
Come on! you are a hypocrite! the 9th Circuit Court has done NOTHING but push their hard left socialist agenda on the nation!
1
Elections have consequences as my democrat friends used to say back when they actually won elections. Republicans are simply doing what was done to them for the century that the Dems ruled the South. Payback is hell,
7
Republican life was cheap and they were indictments couldn't be gotten for killing a Republican
2
Unfortunately you forget that the Southern Rascist Democrats became the Southern Rascist Republicans from Nixon on. Same group, same stuff going on.
Does this ever change?
8
BUT, the Democrats in the South are now the Republicans! So stop trying to shift the blame to Democrats.
1
This may look bad from New York, but up close, it is sickening.
144
Virginians, make sure you vote. If a Republican gets elected governor just ONCE, they'll do the same thing to you.
84
My ancestors on both sides came to American to escape ruthless autocrats and political repression.
When I read stories like this I wonder - where can I go now? Where can my family go? Where do you flee to, when the United States is no longer a democracy?
104
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland.
23
Just make sure you have a passport and the fortitude to adjust to a new country. And yes, I agree with Socrates. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, and the Scandinavian countries.
17
You could always start with California which will most likely be the very last liberal state standing against the rampant and hostile theocratic fascist takeover of the country. As Jerry Brown said, this state will go down fighting to the end and as the world's sixth largest economy, it can and will outlast the rest of the country. You may end up needing to leave the country eventually if the ever-so-Christ-like Christians running this campaign of sleaze, manipulation, terror, and subjugation finally resort to tanks and bombs to bring this state to its knees. But at least you can buy some time here enjoying every liberal freedom that's been hard won in the last century while you plot you're next move.
I will leave this country and renounce my citizenship in a heartbeat if California is ever taken down to North Carolina's mentality and morality. My sister has already moved to Canada, though that was because she married a Canadian but now she's thrilled to be in such a reasonable and progressive country in comparison. I lived temporarily in the UK where even British Conservatives are, at the most, philosophically equivalent to moderate to conservative US Democrats in social issues and it was so refreshing to not be subjected to the daily political and cultural intrusion by over-the-top raging nutcase zealots tantrumming over changing times and waning power. If it wasn't for California, I'd have already left by now.
1
In New York, the political hacks control who becomes a judge.
8
The judiciary was highly politicized in two previous eras, the middle and late nineteenth century and again by Roosevelt, leading the logically absurd cornerstone of federal tyranny in Wickard.
The current era was brought on by the judiciary itself by Roe v Wade, a nakedly political decision that led directly to the smear campaign against Bork organized by Biden and Kennedy making Bork a verb and guaranteeing continued escalation of the politicization of the judiciary, marked recently by the discovery of additional intrusions on the perogatives of the legislative branch to make law.
4
KBronson is Borking us with a story that ignores how Bork shoved his own foot into his own mouth and chewed down on it. In plain English, his own statements were his worst enemy.
12
You let me know, KBronson, when your judiciary starts demanding when YOU may impregnate, when YOU may not, what reproduction solutions THEY demand, and then you may explain to me how it is NOT politicization to make legal commands on one sex and NOT another. I recognize abortion ONLY as a medical matter. I do not believe that ANY judiciary has the right to interfere with my rights, especially when it is utterly silent on the other 49% of the population. You let me know when they force a vasectomy on you and then we'll talk about who has the right to regulate YOUR reproductive rights. I'll bet you'll see any infringement on yourself as no one's right to decide but you and your doctor, and ONLY you and your doctor. Get out of MY uterus.
10
Rosa, where arguments are contained within your response they should be addressed to your state legislature where the question should lie for the simple reason that the constitution does not speak to it.
In taking the decision onto itself to speak where the constitution is silent, the court elected to make law, to establish itself as an unelected superlegislature of nine, and therein articulate a rationale by which other courts might do so in other areas where so inclined.
This quite necessarily makes the judiciary a partisan force and a battleground for partisan control as much as the actual legitimate legislative bodies.
1
Why does a legislature have the power over how the judiciary is constituted? Isn't that a violation of checks and balances?
In my state all local elections, meaning not statewide, are non partisan.
12
And the tooth fairy puts money under your pillow.
4
North Carolina’s judicial races used to be nonpartisan and they couldn’t campaign. We got information in a flyer sent out to all voters. It worked very well. There were members of both parties on the bench. Now that Democrats clinched the majority on the state Supreme Court, the legislature is going through gyrations to fix it to suit themselves. They have also diminished the role of our duly elected governor because he is a Democrat. I believe the total vote in North Carolina favors Democrats but because of the way Republicans have rigged the system, Democrats have no say. Democrats did gerrymandere when they were in power but they didn’t take away the privileges of the two Republican governors at the time,, nor did they try to revamp the judicial system.
13
Paul: my small inner-ring suburb of about 46,000 people has been "non-partisan" for the last 60 years or more.
This means that...it is run 100% by the local Democratic party, as are most suburbs and the main city here, because this is a blue blue blue union county. The GOP has virtually no power here.
Though non-partisan in NAME....the Democrats here control literally everything....school board....city council....they run slates of candidates, and are the only entity with the MONEY to mail postcards, put ads in the local newspapers and so on....so that ordinary people cannot compete with them. If I wanted to run for school board or city council....it would be impossible. The last election, the candidates spent an average of $37,000 each (!!!) to run for a job that pays $9000 a year. That money did not come from their retirement funds -- it came from the local Democratic Party.
So "non partisan" is a fiction and a lie.
1
Judges in New York are selected by the Democratic Party bosses, with the partisan election that follows being a mere formality. I don't see people in New York complaining about the partisan judicial selection process. It is just democracy at work in North Carolina, with the work being done by the elected representatives of the people. Complaints being levied are made by those who do not like the democratic process unless it results in Democrats winning.
7
Show us where the Democrats have ever worked to keep Republicans from voting or being counted. One example would suffice.
11
Tony: even worse....the State of NY forbids CITIZENS from making initiatives and getting signatures to put issues on the ballot, as they can do in most other states. That gives much greater power to the legislature, which is overwhelmingly Democrat and liberal -- and funded, in part, by a source richer than both Koch brothers together -- LIBERAL UNIONS, especially public unions and most especially the richest & most powerful union of all -- the public teachers union.
Ordinary people in NY State have no voice, no power -- nothing -- but are the victims of lefty liberal social engineering every time.
1
It's time that the American people get more involved in the politics that our politicians are trying to circumvent everything, especially on the republican side.
It's time to bring common sense when it comes to what and what not can be done.
We need laws for the people, by the people.
21
The North Carolina GOP's brazen partisan will come to bite them back. The Tobacco Road demographic shift is bringing in a large number of more progressive, educated workers, which will drive up property values and squeeze out poorer residents. Soon, that will tip the popular vote significantly in favor of the Democrats, which will in turn consistently win statewide elections.
Once that happens, eventually a series of appointments, along with census driven redistricting, will force the state legislature into Democratic control. When that happens, chickens will come home to roost.
14
North Carolina since 2011 has undergone a sea change, similar to what our nation is experiencing on a federal level today (Batten down the hatches, America). The intention is to retain power by any means necessary. It's a no-holds-barred approach: extreme gerrymandering; blatant voter suppression; and the unvarnished, undemocratic attempts to take over the judiciary system documented here by Trip Gabriel. Insightful reporting by Melissa Boughton of the state-based legislative watchdog group NC Policy Watch has covered all of this in detail, and it is sea-sickening. Thankfully, we North Carolinians seem to be preparing to right the ship, as evidenced by our election of a governor—Roy Cooper—who isn't afraid to fight in "hand to hand combat" with the legislature, as Gabriel puts it. We voters need to get his back in 2018 and especially 2020.
113
I hope you are right. Sadly, I fear you are wrong. Next they will outlaw the Democratic Party.
3
Never has an American political party worked so hard at destroying democracy as the 21st Century GOP. And the North Carolina state legislature appears to be the spearhead. Partisan politics should be banned, George Washington was exactly right.
70
When the state legislature acts, that is democracy at work. The state legislators are the people's representatives. If the people's representatives cannot work for the people, then what democracy do you have?
3
Really? Never? You don't know much about the history of the Democratic Party if you believe that. Broke up the nation to protect a feudal oligarchy, then when that failed imposed one party rule over much of the nation by the terror of lead, hemp, and lash.
5
But if one party has rigged the system so it has power out of proportion to the vote in its favor, are they still the "people's" representatives? See:
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/06/pa_gerrymander_gave_gop_a_big.html
And if that legislature then castrates the court's so there is no real check on the Party's power, is that not a thinly veiled coupe?
When it becomes impossible for the majority of people to kick out the party in power, that is a situation that must be corrected by either the other branches of government or a revolution.
Which would you prefer?
2
We are dealing with Republican politicians who have nothing but contempt for democracy, and will do absolutely anything to remain permanently in power. We must all recognize the danger they represent to America.
39
Some would argue that contempt for democracy is expressed by a judiciary overturning the statues passed by the body of representatives elected for the purpose of making law.
2
And some would argue that this is why we have a system of checks and balances. Three branches of government, remember?
4
K Bronson,the courts rule on the Constitutionality of the law. Legislators don’t often consider that because most are not Constitutional lawyers. That’s why so many off the NC legislators laws have been found unConstitutional. The voting districts were recently knocked down because they had evidence that the line were racially drawn. Now they are being examined again because Republicans have gerrymandered because of political party. They are determined that they will completely upset the stability of our state.
1
Current GOP mantra: Don't like those other folks, then nullify their representation through theft. So much for equal protection under the law.
32
Why doesn't North Carolina secede from the Union? It would be rather easy and certainly there would be no opposition from most states. They wouldn't have to fire on a Union fort, just execute Democrat judges. Following that they could build ghettos for blacks, segregate schools, restore slavery, make lynching legal, and walking or driving while black illegal. They could also enforce laws that establish drinking fountains for colored people and separate bathrooms too. "Merit Selection" for judges, teachers, and representatives to the legislature could also be enforced and the constitution could be shredded.
North Carolina could also build more prisons, execution chambers and public gallows for summary judgements. At the borders with other states remaining in the Union, North Carolina could build a wall and eliminate all immigration. North Carolina could also impose a test that goes beyond red or blue and impose a color test so that people who have more than a natural tan could also be barred from admission to the state.
North Carolina could also impose mandatory birth control rules so that undesirable cannot reproduce. Abortion rights could also be thrown out the window.
I wouldn't be surprised to see other red states follow the example set by North Carolina.
52
I know you intend this as sarcasm, but unfortunately it is really what they want. It is sickening.
5
Please don't give those carpetbaggers in Raleigh any new ideas. It's bad enough already.
9
The North may have won the Civil War but the South has won the peace. The North was all too willing to allow the South its Jim Crow laws, the Klan, the lynchings, the separate but equal schools and facilities which weren't. As long as it didn't affect us up north we didn't care. Now we're seeing the results and North Carolina is one of them.
16
Follow the money. What ultra-conservative deep pockets are behind these reactionary political "experiments" in North Carolina?
43
ALEC and the Koch Bros.
16
The John William Pope Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, Civitas, Christian Coalition, John Locke Foundation.
1
North Carolina is the biggest example of a problem preying on governments large and small throughout the United States: the people in power have become more and more comfortable passing laws that keep them in power. This is most commonly talked about through the issue of gerrymandering, but the problem extends far beyond that; laws and practices that disenfranchise or discourage voters are widespread (especially here in Texas!).
The solution isn't just to vote out the incumbents - they've made that nigh impossible already and that wouldn't fix the problem forever. Instead, the solution should be passing an amendment to the US Constitution to prohibit passing any law for the sole purpose of political gain.
85
Please replace “the people in power” to REPUBLICANS so I can rec your comment.
4
The problem is as acute or more so, in hard left blue states like California; they instituted rules and regulations that basically put every single Republican out of office and now the state has NO -- NONE! -- GOP legislators.
The dream of lefty liberals is total domination and a one party system -- so I cannot blame North Carolina for "fighting the powers that be".
1
Russian-Republicans and North Carolina's good old white boys can't stand democracy.
UnAmerican and proud of it: GOP 2017
126
You know what's hilarious? I am old enough to remember when it was the right wing and Republicans who were terrified of Russians, the USSR and the Cold War -- and saw a "russkie" under every boulder -- and the left properly mocked them then, for their paranoia.
Today, it all emanates from the left....as if some imaginary Cold War was STILL GOING ON, and as if they do not know that the USSR does not even exist today.
1
The North Carolina legislature is trying to sustain racism and to nullify the 14th amendment through the court system. This is unconscionable.
124
That is why there are federal courts. Whatever the North Carolina legislators and courts may want to do, they cannot nullify the federal constitution, whether through the court system or otherwise.
2
They don’t care. Republicans will do anything to win regardless of ethics or morality. If they can’t win fairly on the merits then cheat: change the rules, move the goalposts, gerrymander it, rig it, steal it.
6
The tenth amendment has been nullified and it is part of the bill of rights. Unlike the 14th, it was property ratified by consent, not force. So why not? If one part of the constitution can be systematically ignored, then it is all up for grabs.