THREE-JUDGE PANEL RULES NC
LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
A three-judge panel Sept 3rd ruled unanimously Tuesday that North Carolina’s legislative voting districts drawn in 2017 were ‘unlawful partisan gerrymanders, and struck them down as unconstitutional.
Twenty-eight North Carolina counties are affected in the state House, and 21 in the state Senate by this ruling.
The court ordered new maps be drawn by the Republican-led NC legislature before the 2020 elections, and if a mapmaker outside of the legislature is hired, that he be approved by the court first.
State lawmakers have until Sept. 18 to have new maps for the state House and Senate drawn and submitted.
The court also ordered that mapmaking process must be done in “full public view.” A special referee will be appointed by the court to oversee the process, and if he rejects lawmakers map, could redraw it himself.
State lawmakers may not use election or any partisan data in redrawing the redial legislative maps, the court ordered.
All there judges of the court who heard the lawsuit by Common Cause against the NC legislature - Alma Hinton, Paul Ridgeway and Joseph Crosswhite - agreed to strike down the current redistricting map, even though at least one of the judges is a Republican.
They also agreed in the 357-page ruling that the voting districts violated the state Constitution’s Free Elections Clause, Equal Protection Clause, Freedom of Speech Clause and Freedom of Assembly Clause.
And most importantly, the three-judge panel is not allowing any appeal to delay the process they’ve outlined. In their order, the court “denies a stay of the remedial process.’
Reaction from state lawmakers was swift Tuesday.
“This is a big step in making sure that every NC’s vote matters, regardless of where you live,” tweeted House Minority Leader Rep. Darren Jackson (D-Wake). “Now the North Carolina General Assembly has until Sept. 18 to draw maps that are fair. It is time 4 us to come together to draw new maps that represent the people of this state & allow 4 every voice to be heard.”
“An appeal is likely,” said Sen. Jeff Jackson, Democrat, “ but if granted it would go to the state Supreme Court, as this is a matter under the state constitution.”
Irving Joyner, professor of law at North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, said, “ The decision rendered by the three Judge panel in Common Cause, et al. v. David Lewis, et al. is a tremendous victory for the people of North Carolina. Among other things, this Court ruled that the North Carolina constitution provides more protections for our citizens than does the federal constitution and statutes in voting rights matters. The General Assembly had already admitted that it drew legislative lines in order to obtain an advantage over Democrats and bragged about doing it. Now, our State Court has determined that their actions were illegal and that they lied about it to the federal courts. This is a huge legal conclusion that will drastically change and enhance the voting rights protections that people should enjoy in this state. The sad things is that this General Assembly has done so many evil things during the past eight years that it will require another decade in order for a properly elected General Assembly to repair the harms that have been inflicted in this State.”
Joyner, who is also chair of the NCNAACP Legal Redress Committee, continued, “This decision will be appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court, but the General Assembly is now compelled to draw new legislative lines before the 2020 elections are conducted and this Court has declared that its order will not be stayed. We applaud Common Cause and the other Plaintiffs for pressing forward with this challenge.
Professor Joyner added one more perspective specifically regarding African Americans.
“This decision, in conjunction with the NC NAACP’s victory in the McCrory racial motivation and redistricting cases, also supports the proposition that the North Carolina Constitution gives more protections to racial minorities, who reside in this state, than does the federal constitution. This is the meaning that African Americans like Bishop John Walker Hood and Abraham Galloway intended when they fought for and inserted an Equal Protection Clause in the 1865 North Carolina Constitution.
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OBAMA, HOLDER PUSH “FAIR MAPS”
PROGRAM TO COUNTER GERRYMANDERING
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Former Pres. Barack Obama, and his former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, aren’t waiting for 2021 to push for fair voting redistricting maps maps to be drawn. They’ve created the “All On the Line” national campaign to start now to organize against partisan gerrymandering, which is still legal, in order to “…restore fairness to our democracy and ensure every American has an equal say in our government.”
That point is especially crucial here in North Carolina, where the U.S. Supreme Court in June allowed partisan congressional gerrymandering by the Republican-led NC General Assembly to stand, but the NC Supreme Court is still in the process of deciding whether legislative partisan redistricting violates the state Constitution.
North Carolina is considered a “purple” state, and yet, because of Republican partisan gerrymandering, while Democrats voted to elected ore of their own to office, skewed voting districts allowed Republicans to maintain legislative and congressional majorities.
“The [U.S.] Constitution requires the redistricting process to occur in 2021, no matter what,” says Holder. “But whether or not the maps are drawn fairly is yet to be determined -- and it's up to us to hold our elected officials accountable in this process. We have a plan to create a better, more fair, and more just democracy. The stakes could not be higher.”
The Democratic former president agrees.
“The movement for fair maps will determine the course of progress on every issue we care about for the next decade,” Obama said in a statement announcing a new, free, in-person organizing training initiative called “Redistricting U.”
“We need to build this movement from the ground up right now,” Obama maintained.
Obama and Holder came together for the cause when their respective political organizations - Obama’s Organizing for Action and Holder’s ‘The National Redistricting Action Fund - merged to become the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), which, in turn, launched the “All On the Line” campaign.
According to the “Allontheline.org” website, Redistricting U sends “…dedicated trainers to cities across the country to train volunteers, give them the tools tp impact the redistricting process in their state, hear from them on how to best make change in their communities, and empower them to be leaders in the movement for fair maps.”
Because the initiative was just announced last week, it is still too early to determine where in North Carolina the Redistricting U training is taking place, but there’s little question that both Obama and Holder are very much aware of the state’s constant redistricting battles in the courts, and have been keeping a keen eye on every ruling affecting North Carolina.
“The health of our democracy is not a given,” warns Eric holder. “And it's under attack. I say this not to be hyperbolic, but to remind us all of what's at stake. The impacts of redistricting will be long-lasting. From progress in the fight for common-sense gun protections to voting rights to access to health care -- we have the chance to determine the direction of the next decade. But we must remain committed and diligent in our effort to create a fair and just democracy.
Editor’s note - to learn more about Redistricting U, go to allonthe line.org.
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[instead of state briefs]
GOV. COOPER DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR HURRICANE DORIAN
Governor Cooper has declared a State of Emergency for all 100 counties in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, which allows state resources to be mobilized and lets the state and local governments seek federal aid. He also signed two transportation waivers, one so that relief supplies and utility vehicles can move within the state, and another to help North Carolina farmers harvest and transport crops and livestock quickly.
To prepare, residents should be sure they:
- Have multiple ways to receive weather information from reliable sources,
- Know your evacuation routes and review your emergency plan,
- Stock an emergency supply kit, which should contain food, water, prescription medicines, charging cords, batteries, and other essentials to support your family for several days
- Make sure your insurance is up to date.
For more information on how to ensure your family is disaster ready, go to ReadyNC.org or download the free ReadyNC app, which features traffic, power outage and shelter information.
Also, check to see if your local community offers an emergency alert service for its residents. Follow @NCEmergency on Twitter and Facebook for the latest information on Hurricane Dorian and how you can prepare.
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REPORT: NORTH CAROLINIANS WITH PAST
CONVICTIONS STILL SUBJECT TO POLL TAXES
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Over 51,000 North Carolinians who’ve paid their debt to society for a past felony conviction still have their right to vote suppressed do to “modern-day poll taxes,” according to a recent report by the Civil Rights Clinic at Georgetown Law School and Campaign Legal Center.
“In 2019, at least 30 states continue to disenfranchise some of their citizens based on wealth,” the report says.
Historically, “…payment of a poll tax was a prerequisite to the registration for voting in a number of states (including North Carolina) until 1966 (as a part of Jim Crow laws),” according to Wikipedia. Passage of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution eliminated the poll tax in its original form for federal elections. But now, observers say, state governments have found a new way to keep the poor from exercising their right to vote.
The report titled “Can’t Pay, Can’t Vote,” notes that 48 out of 50 states - including North Carolina - require the payment of all due fines and fees associated with the completion of parole and/or probation for certain crimes. If those legal financial obligations are not satisfied to the state, the restoration of voting rights is denied.
According to the nonpartisan, nonprofit The Sentencing Project, in 2016, an estimated 51,845 North Carolinians fell into this category.
Currently across the United States, an estimated six million former felons have been denied their right to vote because they can’t pay their legal fines and fees associated with their convictions.
And given how the cost of court has simply skyrocketed over the past few decades, the Georgetown Law report notes that it can take years for ex-felons to pay off their legal fines and fees. If they can’t pay, the duration of their parole. And if they can’t payoff their legal financial obligations, their voter disenfranchisement is permanent, says the report.
And it should be no surprise to anyone that many of those affected, are black and Hispanic.
“Given the well-documented racial disparities within the criminal justice system, these modern poll taxes—like poll taxes in the pre-Civil Rights era—are imposed disproportionately on people of color,” the report said. “They also have a disproportionate impact on the poor. Not only does living in poverty dramatically increase an individual’s risk of incarceration, and therefore, disenfranchisement, but a prior criminal conviction can often limit opportunities for employment and increase the risk of living in poverty post-incarceration.”
“Faced with limited economic resources and opportunities, formerly incarcerated individuals often struggle to keep up with, much less pay entirely, legal financial obligations resulting from their past convictions.”
On it’s conclusion, the Georgetown Law report states, “The surest way to eliminate the impact of wealth on access to the ballot for people with convictions is to abolish felony disenfranchisement. But states can take important steps short of that to ensure that wealth does not pose a barrier to the ballot box.”
“This is because, in most states, current forms of post-incarceration supervision are inextricably bound up with legal debt, such that rights restoration conditioned on completion of probation or parole is implicitly conditioned on ability to pay,” the report continues. “ Not only is automatic restoration easier to administer and on stronger constitutional footing, it is sound policy for everyone. Evidence suggests voting rights restoration improves re-entry and reduces recidivism. And, states are slowly moving in this direction, with both Colorado and Nevada adopting automatic restoration statutes in 2019. “
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