racial discrimination

July 20, 2018 - With President Trump nominating a judge with a record of hostility to voting rights to the U.S. Supreme Court, state courts and constitutions are likely to play an increasingly critical role in protecting those rights — but those institutions are under political assault by conservatives.

June 29, 2018 - In the final days of its 2018 session, the General Assembly approved a series of constitutional amendments for the November ballot that if passed would restrict voting and expand the legislature's power over the courts and the executive branch.

February 22, 2018 - As civil rights groups challenge racially discriminatory judicial elections under the Voting Rights Act, North Carolina legislators are moving forward with a judicial gerrymandering plan that could lead to less racial diversity on the bench.

January 26, 2018 - A proposed constitutional amendment would give the state legislature control over choosing judges — a power it has not had since the Civil War.

January 17, 2018 - Thomas Farr's nomination to serve as a federal judge in eastern North Carolina has met opposition because of his involvement in efforts to suppress the African-American vote. Less well-known are his efforts to quash workers' organizing rights.

November 22, 2017 - A lawsuit that led to judicial elections in Louisiana's Terrebonne Parish being declared racially discriminatory will move to the remedial stage despite efforts by the governor and attorney general — with help from a controversial law firm — to block a fix.

October 20, 2017 - Facing legal action in North Carolina for filing false claims of voter fraud after last year's close governor's race, Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky is now opposing the NAACP in a lawsuit over judicial elections in Louisiana's Terrebonne Parish. The Virginia-based firm's managing partner is a GOP state senator and candidate for lieutenant governor in that state.