STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR -06-20-19
WENDELL POOL OWNER BANS DREADLOCKS, HAIR EXTENSIONS
[WENDELL] The owner of an outdoor pool posted new rules for admittance – rules that some say re racially discriminatory. The owner, John Freeman, says he is not a racist, and will sue anyone who calls him that Among the new rules Freeman posted to use his pool are “no deadlocks or hair extensions.” Freeman says because hair come of in the pool, ad clogs the drains and pumps. Critics say he could have easily mandated that loose hair be wrapped to prevent separation. Freeman has since apologized on Facebook, saying that he should have worded his ban on artificial hair differently. But tat post has since been removed, and Freeman says he will now take folks to court who call him racist.
THREE ACCUSED OF VOTER FRAUD IN EASTERN NC
[GOLDSBORO] State authorities have charged two people from Goldsboro, and on from New Bern with using false addresses to cast early ballots in the May 2018 primaries, according to the SBI. At least one of the people actually voted twice in the same election. All three were charged with corruptly taking the oath prescribed to voters, while the suspect from New Bern was charged with double-voting.
REPORT: MORE THAN 60% OF STATE’S 4THGRADERS NOT READING PROFICIENT
[RALEIGH] More than 60% of North Carolina fourth graders are b=not reading proficient, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Experts say a lack of investment in preschool and early-childhood education is the likely cause. And racial disparities continue to persist, with children of color performing well behind their white counterparts.
-30-
COULD BODE WELL FOR NC
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued Monday on racial gerrymandering in Virginia by the state’s Republican-led legislature, bodes well for North Carolina, says a state legal expert.
The High Court dismissed the Virginia House of Delegates appeal of a lower federal court’s ruling that the electoral map drawn in 2011 was unconstitutional because it racially stacked black voters in districts in order to maintain political electoral advantage.
Groups like the North Carolina NAACP have charged racial “stacking-and-packing” in voting maps drawn by the Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly as well, and have had the federal courts also rule them unconstitutional due to racial gerrymandering.
The Virginia appeal by state lawmakers was dismissed in a 5-4 decision, because the US Supreme Court ruled they did not have standing in the case to do so. Only the state attorney general had standing, and he had declined.
Thus, Virginia Democrats are looking forward to fairer drawn voting map for their upcoming state elections.
Attorney Irving Joyner, chair of the NCNAACP Legal Redress Committee, and litigator on behalf of the NCNAACP in several voting rights and redistricting cases, says the High Court ruling in the Virginia case is good news for North Carolina.
“Virginia House of Delegates v. Bethune Hills is a very important decision for the voting rights community,” atty Joyner said by email Monday. “It has the effect of affirming a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision which struck down another Republican orchestrated racial gerrymandering case which had suppressed the impact of African American voters. It is important to us in North Carolina because it follows a national effort by extreme politicians to minimize the political power of African Americans as has occurred here in this state. We are well aware of these efforts and vow to stay vigilant to resist them whenever and wherever they occur.”
Joyner continued, “It is important that there are elected officials in positions of power who have refused to support these gerrymandering attempts. We take note of the sound legal decisions by the North Carolina and Virginia Attorney Generals who chose not to oppose the underlying decisions from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. We are also encouraged to see that conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court were not overtly partisan in this case and hope that those Justices will continue that trend.”
“As the 2020 election campaign heata up,” Joyner continued, “… we can expect additional attempts in North Carolina, Virginia and other states to undermine political participation by African Americans and other racial minorities. In response to these efforts, we anticipate the need for continuing litigation.”
“With this decision in place, we continue to await the Supreme Court's decision regarding partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina and Maryland.”
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment