4th circuit

July 1, 2021 - The president has nominated a record number of people of color to federal courts, but his choice to fill a vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from the Carolinas, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, is a white man.  

April 8, 2021 - Riggs, an attorney with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, led the successful legal fight against North Carolina's 2013 voter suppression bill. She talked with Facing South about the ongoing attacks on voting, legal strategies for combating new voter suppression bills, and her hopes for the future of voting rights.

August 29, 2018 - This week's federal ruling that North Carolina's congressional maps are unconstitutionally designed for GOP advantage adds to the uncertainty over the looming election. But it also offers a chance for the state's voters to cast their ballots in a fair contest for the first time in years — as long as Trump's Supreme Court nominee doesn't get in the way.

October 9, 2014 - The nation's highest court has decided to allow North Carolina's restrictive new election law to take effect this year, reversing a lower court's ruling. In response, voting-rights advocates are carrying on with grassroots voter registration and protection efforts while continuing to challenge the law in the courts.

October 3, 2014 - The Fourth Circuit Court's decision blocking two provisions of the state's restrictive 2013 voting law ahead of the November election is an important victory for voting rights advocates. But North Carolina is now appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has already proven reluctant to allow changes to voting laws so close to the election.

February 14, 2013 - Once known as the "most aggressively conservative" federal appeals court and the "black hole of capital litigation," the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond has shifted to the center, thanks to six appointments by President Obama.