Tag search result

A legislative reunion in honor of the statehouse's 50th birthday brought former lawmakers out of the woodwork. And the difference between the gray-haired Democrats and the Republican young guns was visually apparent.

Former Congressman Bob Etheridge, a Democrat who served two-terms in the N.C. House, said the legislature of the past is nothing like the current one under Republican control. "A lot of folks who were here today remember the days when you would come to this building -- you may argue and we had Democrats and Republicans -- but we were doing things to make a difference to move North Carolina forward," he said. "And what I saw in the paper the other day, the (legislative) proposals give me reason to be very concerned."

There will be an attempt to make judicial elections partisan again. A pair of Republican senators filed such a bill on Thursday.

SB39 would require state all Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, superior and district court judges to run by party affiliation. That used to be the case until 2002, when the Democratic-controlled General Assembly made them nonpartisan, the rationale being that judges should be elected based solely on qualifications and not politics.

Republicans contended that the real motivation was that voters were electing Republican judges.

Sen. Jerry Tillman of Archdale, a retired school administrator, and Sen. Thom Goolsby of Wilmington, a lawyer, are the co-sponsors.

The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that lawyers working for GOP leaders don't have to give redistricting communications to their opponents.

Democrats, civil rights groups and non-profits suing over the redistricting plans sought communications from GOP lawyers who worked for legislative leaders as they redesigned House, Senate and congressional districts. The lawyers were paid with state money, and the Democrats' lawyers argued that their communications should be made public, just as other legislative employee communications become public after new maps are approved.

A three-judge panel of Superior Court judges told Republicans to hand over the information, but legislative leaders appealed to the state Supreme Court, which agreed with Republicans.

"Without a clear and unambiguous statement by the General Assembly that it intends to waive its attorney-client privilege or work-product doctrine, we are compelled to exercise judicial restraint and defer to the General Assembly's judgment regarding the scope of its legislative confidentiality," the ruling says.

Justice Robin Hudson dissented, and Justice Cheri Beasley did not participate in the decision.

Mark Davis will be sworn in as the state’s newest appellate court judge at 2:30 p.m. Thursday on the third floor of the N.C. Court of Appeals building in Raleigh. Davis was general counsel to Gov. Bev Perdue for the past two years. He replaced Judge Cheri Beasley after Perdue elevated her to the state Supreme Court.

GOV. PAY RAISE: The salary hikes Gov. Pay McCrory gave to his cabinet are stricking a chord. From N&O columnist Barry Saunders: If you saw our new governor live or on television banging away on a drum set with a band at Raleigh’s Lincoln Theatre last week, you already know Ringo has nothing to worry about.

For further evidence that the governor is tone deaf, all you had to do was read the newspaper the next day and see that Gov. Pat, henceforth known as Gov. Pay Raise, McCrory bestowed sizable raises on the people closest to him while sprinkling a pittance upon those outside his inner circle – you know, the ones who do the actual work.

You are reading the Dome Morning Memo, an analysis of the day's political headlines. Read much more below. Thanks.

AHEAD THIS WEEK: The UNC system committee considering a new five-year plan meets Monday. The NAACP holds is own legislative briefing -- sure to be much different from the one Republicans will hold -- Tuesday to talk about poverty and economic justice.

SKVARLA FACES NEW QUESTIONS: Secretary John Skvarla's memo to staff at the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources this week is getting a good bit of attention and creating more questions than it answers. As reported here first, the agency's new mission statement includes this line: "environmental science is quite complex, comprised of many components, and most importantly, contains diversity of opinion." The memo also suggests the agency is more service organziation than state regulator. It raises big questions for the McCrory administration: Is climate change a scientific fact? What about sea level rise? And are human's responsible for global warming?

McCRORY DODGES GLOBAL WARMING QUESTION: As the DENR secretary questions the validity of science, the new Republican governor is sidestepping the global warming issue entirely. Pat McCrory told Travis Fain at the News & Record: "John (Skvarla) and I aren’t going to get caught up in the political semantics of either the left or the right on climate change or global warming. We believe in clean air, clean water and clean ground. ... As my father used to say ... we must walk the fine line between continuing our economic prosperity while also protecting the quality of life and the environment which brought may of us here. And that’s the fine line leadership must continue to walk.” Expect this question to re-emerge Wednesday.

State Appeals Court Judge Cheri Beasley will officially take a step up and be sworn in as the seventh state Supreme Court justice Thursday afternoon.

Chief Justice Sarah Parker is administering the oath at the Justice building. Gov. Bev Perdue appointed Beasley to replace former Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson, who announced her resignation in November.

Beasley will have to run for the seat in 2014 if she wants to keep it.

Gov. Bev Perdue on Wednesday named state appeals court judge Cheri Beasley to the N.C. Supreme Court, filling the vacancy created by Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson’s retirement.

Updated

Federal campaign finance reports that came out this week provide a closer look at who the corporations were behind the national GOP group that pumped more than $1 million into one of the super PACs that backed state Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby’s re-election.

The Republican State Leadership Committee reports spending $13.3 million on campaigns around the country. It sent $1,165,000 million to Justice for All N.C., which in turn contributed heavily to the N.C. Judicial Coalition. Reports for those super PACs aren’t in yet.

Members of the N.C. congressional delegation say they’re ready to compromise on some hardened positions to reach a deal that would prevent the country from plunging over the “fiscal cliff.” Failing to reach an agreement by the end of the year would trigger tax hikes and massive cuts in spending on federal programs.

N.C. Rep. Howard Coble is the latest Republican who says he’s willing to buck one of the party’s sacrosanct pledges to not raise taxes. Read full story here.

More political headlines:

--N.C. Supreme Court Justice Patricia A. Timmons-Goodson, the first and only female African-American to serve on the state’s highest court, is resigning her position. Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat who will leave office after next month, is intent on making the replacement even though if it means she rescinds an executive order she signed to do it.