WAKE COMMISSION CHAIR JESSICA HOLMES
STATE SEN. ERICA SMITH
CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES GET
GREENLIGHT TO FILE FOR OFFICE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
With a three-judge panel deciding Monday that the NC General Assembly’s most recent congressional maps can be used for the 2020 elections, the way was finally cleared for candidates for federal office to join their local, state and legislative counterparts to begin filing for office.
The filing period, which began on Monday, Dec. 2nd, ends on Friday, Dec. 20th.
For congressional incumbents, the ruling by the Wake Superior Court was welcomed news, especially after it wasn’t clear whether the March 2020 primaries would be pushed back or not if the court could not decide Monday.
“Now that the three-judge panel has made its decision concerning the congressional map for the 2020 election, I look forward to the opportunity to continue representing the people of North Carolina’s First Congressional District,” said Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1) after the court’s ruling. “The First District will encompass many counties that I formerly represented in Congress, and if the people of the First District give me the honor once again, I will continue to fight for their best interests in the United States Congress.”
Rep. Butterfield will be vying for his ninth term in 2020.
At press time Monday, Butterfield’s black colleague, Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-NC-12) of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, was also expected to file for re-election for a fourth-term.
Based on the new approved NC congressional map, five of the state’s thirteen congressional districts - including representatives Adams and Butterfield - will lean Democrat. In the previous 2016 congressional map, which was eventually ruled unconstitutional because of partisan gerrymandering, only three of the thirteen North Carolina congressional districts leaned Democrat.
For North Carolina Congressional District 2, former Wake County School Board Chairwoman Monika Johnson-Hostler will be facing off against fellow Democrats Jason Butler and Scott Cooper in the March 3 primary. Republican incumbent Rep. George Holding had not filed for reelection by press time.
If Hostler-Johnson were to win in November, she would become North Carolina’s third African-American congressperson - assuming Adams and Butterfield hold on to their seats.
For the U.S. Senate, Democrats are lining up to oust first-term Republican Sen. Thom Tillis out of office. State Sen. Erica Smith of Northhampton County is working hard to face fellow Democrat Cal Cunningham, a former state senator, in the March primary. Other Democrats in that primary include Mecklenburg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller, and Durham businessman Steven Williams.
For statewide office, NC Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley is expected to file for a full eight-year term for her post. Republican Associate NC Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby has announced that he will challenge the state’s first black female chief justice for the seat.
Jessica Holmes, an African-American, Democrat and currently the chairwoman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, officially filed for NC commissioner of Labor Monday.
“ I am a proven advocate for working families and I am ready to fight for fair wages, safe and healthy work environments and family-friendly policies on behalf of all North Carolinians,” the Pender County native told her supporters in campaign literature. If she wins, Holmes would succeed current Labor Commissioner Cheri Berry, who is stepping down after five four-year terms.
Holmes will have to get past Democratic primary challenger Eva Lee, a tax attorney, in order to face challenger Republican Rep. Josh Dobson (R-McDowell) in November.
Rep. Yvonne Lewis Holley (D-Wake) has announced that she is running for lt. governor, one of several Democrats who will be competing in March for the open seat.
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LATOYA POWELL
16 & 17 YEAR-OLDS NO LONGER
CHARGED AS ADULTS UNDER
NEW “RAISE THE AGE” LAW
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
As of Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019 in North Carolina, 16 and 17 year-olds who commit certain low-level, non-violent felonies and misdemeanors will not automatically be charged as adults, thanks to the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act, or “Raise the Age” law, a bipartisan effort, passed in 2017.
For many a parent, this a great news.
North Carolina literally was the last state in the nation to change it’s century-old practice so that under 18 teens were not saddled with adult-level criminal records for the rest of their lives for certain crimes they were convicted of.
Their cases will now be heard in juvenile court.
According to LaToya Powell, a former appellate attorney at the UNC School of Government, “In September 2015, Chief Justice Mark Martin convened the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice (NCCALJ) to study North Carolina’s court system and make recommendations to improve it. The NCCALJ Committee on Criminal Investigation and Adjudication identified “juvenile reinvestment” as a top priority and developed a raise the age proposal with input from a diverse group of stakeholders, including law enforcement officials, prosecutors, juvenile justice representatives, and judges, among others.”
Ms. Powell continued, “ That collaboration resulted in the Juvenile Reinvestment Report, which concludes that rehabilitating youthful offenders in juvenile court will reduce crime and save money. Citing adolescent brain development research and recidivism data, the report provides evidence that treatment in the juvenile justice system is far more effective in reducing juvenile crime than incarcerating juveniles in adult facilities. The report concludes that by lowering recidivism, raise the age will improve public safety and produce economic benefits for both the state and juveniles, who will no longer carry the burden of a permanent criminal record for youthful mistakes (the same conclusion reached by two prior cost-benefit studies completed in 2009 and 2011).”
Powell concluded, “Ultimately, the report recommended that NC raise the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to include 16 and 17-year-olds for all offenses, except violent felonies and traffic offenses, contingent upon several other provisions designed to address law enforcement concerns. The recommendation is the first raise the age proposal to receive broad bipartisan support and the endorsement of the law enforcement community. Apparently, this collaboration was the change needed to make raise the age a reality in NC.”
State lawmakers also made sure at least $77 million were appropriated to help fund more district court judges, designated prosecutors and other personnel, as well as juvenile justice programs and facilities in time for the new law when it began this week.
All one hundred counties have a Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, which monitors the needs of at-risk youth, and provide resources for rehabilitation services.
The NC Department of Public Safety (NCDPS)is the lead state agency to see that the important aspects of the law are implemented properly across the state so that young people who commit low-level offenses have every opportunity to correct their paths and not be saddled with serious charges that will crush their chances at good educations or career opportunities.
Not all juveniles will be eligible for the new law.
Those excluded from juvenile jurisdiction include those transferred to or convicted in superior court. Also those juveniles who have been emancipated and married.
According to NCDPS, “…all criminal cases for juveniles up to age 18 (with the exception of exclusions above) will begin in juvenile court.”
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SEN. HARRIS EXITS
RACE FOR PRESIDENCY
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Across the country, the feelings among Democrats are mixed about Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) leaving the presidential race Tuesday. Her support dropped sharply over the past year, along with a troubled, financially strapped campaign and a deluge of negative headlines, all eventually draining the life out of what, at first, shaped up to be an exciting effort for the White House by a sharp, experienced black female, former California state attorney general, and political rising star..
“It is with deep regret — but also with deep gratitude— that I am suspending my campaign today,” Harris, 55, wrote in a campaign goodbye. “But I want to be clear with you: I am still very much in this fight.”
Pundits surmise that Sen. Harris - who excited supporters with her precise prosecutorial questioning of U.S. Attorney General William Barr during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings last spring, was never able to be clear on her policy agenda when it came to affordable health care, and may have paid the price for attacking Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden one too many times in hopes of robbing him of his solid African-American support in the polls.
That, and criticism of her law enforcement record as California state attorney general, ultimately weighed against the talented politician. With campaign funds running low, Harris could not hold until the Democratic primaries starting in January 2020.
During her brief run, Sen. Harris and North Carolina got to know each other.
Last August when she was considered one of the top four Democratic presidential contenders after a fiery first debate performance, Harris visited Durham and Greensboro. In Durham, she was the keynote speaker for the sold-out Annual Durham Committee of the Affairs of Black People Banquet, where she dutifully blasted Pres. Donald Trump, and promised if elected president, she would make sure that historically black colleges and universities were properly financially supported, along with black homeowners and businesses.
The next day, Sen. Harris attended 11 a.m. services at St. Joseph A.M.E. Church, where an old friend, Rev. Jay Augustine, was the new pastor.
“The measure of our strength is not who we beat down, it’s about who we lift up,” the former California state attorney general continued, also touching on how her faith in GOD has strengthened her, to thunderous applause led by several fellow sorority sisters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc. in attendance.
Harris later teased her old friend, Pastor Augustine, saying, “Yes pastor, I know you can’t tell people who to vote for, but you can tell people who to pray for.”
But before she concluded her remarks, Sen. Harris gave props to a fellow AKA sister, Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, who is running to keep her seat in 2020.
“If justice is to be real in America, one of the most important and lasting places it will happen and take place is in the courtrooms of America, and it will be by re-electing the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the state of North Carolina,” Sen. Harris said, turning to Beasley and then saying, “I’m honored to be sharing this moment with you.”
Later that Sunday afternoon, Sen. Harris held a packed campaign rally at a Greensboro high school.
Months earlier, members of the NCNAACP who went to Washington, DC in November 2018 to lobby U.S. senators against confirming Raleigh attorney Thomas Farr to the federal bench were greeted by a smiling Sen. Kamala Harris, who warmly commended them for taking the time and making the effort. She took time to speak to NCNAACP Pres. T. Anthony Spearman, and take a group picture.
At press time Tuesday, there were many of social media sorry to see her go, and hoped that no matter who the eventual Democratic presidential nominee will be, that Kamala Harris will also be on the ticket as a running mate for vice president.
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 12-05-19
“MAYOR PETE” SPEAKS AT REV. BARBER’S CHURCH
[GOLDSBORO] If there was any indication just how important the black vote is to the 16 Democratic presidential candidates running in 2020, a visit by Pete Buttigieg, considered a moderate, to Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro Sunday, certainly confirmed it. Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is rising in the national polls, but still is doing poorly with African American voters compared to frontrunner Joe Biden. Nuttigieg attendee morning service, then sat for a two-hour public conversation with Greenleaf Pastor Rev. William Barber, who questioned the presidential candidate about addressing poverty, protecting voting rights, and improving access to affordable health insurance, especially for the poor and low-income.
PHOTO IDs FROM ALL CAMPUSES IN UNC SYSTEM NOW ACCEPTABLE FOR VOTING
[RALEIGH] The State Board of Elections [SBOE] has now approved campus photo identification for voting from all UNC System schools in time for the 2020 elections. The new IDs can be used in lieu of driver licenses. Several UNC schools had their IDs approved earlier in the year, but now all of them qualify. A variety of photo IDs are now eligible for use from registered voters. To find out more, please go to www.ncsbe.gov/Voter-ID.
UNC PAYS $2.5 MILLION FOR SILENT SAM TO GO TO CONFEDERATE GROUP
[CHAPEL HILL] By order of a superior court judge, the Silent Sam Confederate statue that stood for 105 years on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus before being pulled off its pedestal in August 2018, now belongs to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. But that’s not all the SCV are getting. The UNC System and Board of Governors will also pay $2.5 million in a trust to help transport and maintain the eight-foot statue in any county across the state….as long as there is not a UNC School in that county. The UNC Board wanted to make sure no students at any UNC campus came in contact with Silent Sam ever again.
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