VOLUME 3 ISSUE 17
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2018
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EAMON QUEENEY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL | FILE
Sen. Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) studies redrawn district maps during the first joint meeting of the Select Committee on Redistricting at the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh in July 2017.
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
U.S. top court sidesteps major rulings on electoral map manipulation
U.S. to withdraw from U.N. human rights body
By Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley Reuters
Washington, D.C. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley announced on Tuesday that the United Sates is withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council. The United States is half-way through a threeyear term on the main U.N. rights body and had long threatened to quit if it was not reformed, accusing the 47-member Geneva-based body of a “chronic anti-Israel bias.” The U.S. boycotted the Human Rights Council for three years under President George W. Bush before rejoining under Barack Obama in 2009.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to Wisconsin Republicans who drew state electoral districts to benefit their party but sidestepped a major ruling on whether parties have carte blanche to engage in the practice called partisan gerrymandering. The justices unanimously threw out a lower court ruling that state legislative districts drawn by Wisconsin's Republican-controlled legislature deprived Democratic voters of their constitutional rights including equal protection under the law. The ruling, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, said the Democratic voters who sued to block the electoral map lacked the necessary
legal standing because they challenged it statewide rather than focusing on individual districts. The ruling makes it harder, but not impossible, for plaintiffs to challenge maps statewide. To do so, voters in every district in a state must show their own voting clout has been harmed. In a separate case from Maryland, the court's unsigned opinion preserved a Democratic-drawn U.S. House of Representatives district challenged by Republican voters but allowed the fight to continue in a lower court. The cases have been closely watched for signs that the court would weigh in on partisan gerrymandering. This is a practice in which the party that controls a state legislature uses the process of redrawing electoral districts after the U.S. census every decade to tighten
Verizon to stop sharing phonelocation data to third parties Los Angeles Verizon Communications Inc. has decided to stop sharing phone-location data of its customers to third parties, the largest U.S. wireless company said on Tuesday. The practice has drawn criticism over security and privacy rights. The change will still allow users to share their location with apps voluntarily but stops the sale of data to brokers and third parties.
INSIDE Two new laws would get more nurses on the job and help caregivers make important decisions. Jones & Blount
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North Carolina case Roberts said the court was leaving for another day whether judges have the power to remedy claims of unconstitutionally biased electoral maps. The justices could soon take up a challenge to Republican-drawn congressional districts in North Carolina that may give them another chance in their next term for a broader ruling on partisan gerrymandering. The court's four liberal justices indicated more sympathy toward
hearing gerrymandering challenges. Justice Elena Kagan, joined by her fellow liberals, wrote that at its most extreme, partisan gerrymandering amounts to "rigging elections." "Courts have a critical role to play in curbing partisan gerrymandering," Kagan said. Gerrymandering usually involves packing voters who tend to favor a particular party in a small number of districts to diminish their statewide voting power while scattering others in districts in numbers too small to be a majority. "The Supreme Court missed an opportunity today to lay down a firm marker as to when partisan gerrymandering is so extreme that it violates the constitutional rights of voters. But the court permitted See MAP, page A8
Judicial filing period opens
U.S. grain, livestock prices collapse on China trade war fears New York U.S. crop and livestock prices tumbled on Tuesday as the White House threatens more tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods. The U.S. exported $12.4 billion worth of soybeans to China last year. Trade jitters have slammed agricultural markets over the past two weeks on worries that China — the largest importer of U.S. soybeans, pork and cotton — would slow or halt purchases of those and other U.S. farm goods. U.S. crop farmers have lost an estimated $100 per acre in revenue with the swift escalation in trade tensions over the past two weeks, the most rapid erosion of U.S. farm profit since at least 1979.
its grip on power by diluting the influence of voters who tend to support the rival party. Critics have said gerrymandering has become more extreme through the use of precise voter data and computer modeling to devise electoral maps.
Cancelled primaries and vetoed bills complicate filing week for judicial candidates
CHRIS KEANE | REUTERS | FILE
An election worker checks a voter’s driver’s license.
Voter ID could be on ballots statewide in November The proposed constitutional amendment already has 44 co-sponsors By David Larson for the North State Journal RALEIGH — At the N.C. General Assembly last week, legislative leaders took action on a pair of election-related bills — one to adjust early voting rules and the other to create a ballot referendum on whether or not to add voter ID requirements to the state constitution. Both measures have garnered widespread support among legislative Republicans and opposition from Democrats. Senate Bill 325, “The Uniform & Expanded Early Voting Act,” passed 60-41 in the House and 23-11 in the Senate, almost entirely along party lines. After passage by both chambers, the bill was sent to the desk of Gov. Roy Cooper. House Bill 1092, “Constitutional Amendment — Require Photo ID to Vote,” has not been considered yet for any votes, but the bill already has 44 sponsors, including Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) who introduced the legislation. After being read in, this bill was sent to the House Com-
mittee on Elections and Ethics Law. The office of Rep. Bert Jones (R-Rockingham), chair of the committee, told the North State Journal they didn’t currently have information on when H.B. 1092 would be scheduled for review by the committee. Some national media outlets and left-leaning activists have responded negatively to both S.B. 325 and H.B. 1092 for what they see as underlying racial motivations or effects. A 2013 elections law containing voter ID requirements was struck down in 2016 by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals after a three-judge panel determined it to have been racially targeted. The panel claimed African-Americans were less likely to have voter ID, and the disparate impact would harm their voting rights to the benefit of Republicans. Critics view this as an attempt to get around the ruling. By crafting H.B. 1092 as simply initiating a referendum where the voters would decide the issue, the legislature would potentially insulate themselves from having the courts question their motives in the same way. There are 32 U.S. states, including all other Southeastern states, requiring some form of votSee VOTER ID, page A2
By Donna King North State Journal RALEIGH — Adding one more layer to this week’s candidate filing period for dozens of judicial seats, Judge Catherine Eagles notified parties on Tuesday that she will be siding with Republicans in a lawsuit over the majority party’s move to cancel 2018’s judicial primary while changes to the judicial districts make their way through the legislature. Her full ruling is expected next week. On Monday, candidates began filing for judicial races for 150 district and superior court seats, a N.C. Supreme Court seat and three Court of Appeals seats. However, the process is complicated by Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto last week of two judicial and elections bills that make changes to districts in Mecklenburg and
Wake counties. Legislative lawmakers say they will override the veto. Eagles’ announcement is the latest update in the legal battle following an N.C. Democratic Party lawsuit. The suit claims the law stopping the judicial primary this year denies voter access and would make the field of candidates too large in November, potentially leading to a candidate winning with a low vote percentage. Republican lawmakers said last year they eliminated the primaries to avoid confusion for voters, with judicial selection and district lines likely to change. They also said candidates would not have enough time before the primaries to make an informed decision about where they were eligible to run. The judicial primaries were originally scheduled for next week. More than 100 candidates have already filed for the judicial seats since the period opened Monday, giving their party affiliation to be included on the balSee JUDICIAL, page A2
LAUREN ROSE | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Barbara Jackson was honored at the N.C. Supreme Court in April as part of its 200th anniversary.