checks and balances

July 7, 2022 - The U.S. Supreme Court will consider a fringe legal theory that would give state lawmakers even more leeway to gerrymander, suppress voters, and possibly overturn presidential election results. Four conservative justices agree with the theory, and the appeal out of North Carolina will reveal if the court's majority does. A proposed constitutional amendment could provide a fix.

January 27, 2022 - As the N.C. Supreme Court prepares to hear a lawsuit challenging gerrymandered election districts, a prominent Republican leader has brought up the possibility of the legislature impeaching judges. It hasn't happened in well over a century, when white supremacist Democrats impeached two justices, as well as a Klan-fighting governor.

June 6, 2019 - North Carolina's courts have been in the crosshairs of the Republican-controlled legislature for years, with bills introduced to gerrymander judges, pack the bench, and manipulate judicial elections. But last week, lawmakers quickly restored a controversial cut to the chief justice's budget, suggesting the era of GOP judicial power grabs may be over.

October 31, 2018 - When Southern state constitutions were rewritten during Reconstruction, the drafters created new limits on lawmakers and took the power to choose judges, governors, and local officials from politicians and gave it to the voters. But today, some state legislatures are chipping away at these checks and balances.