separation of powers
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.
October 28, 2021 -
Families in resource-starved public school districts have filed lawsuits challenging unequal education funding, and three pending cases in Southern states seek to compel reluctant legislatures to provide more money for poorer districts. Republicans in North Carolina are now discussing impeaching judges who've ordered them to take action.
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.
January 24, 2019 -
Legislators in Kentucky and West Virginia are discussing constitutional amendments to give governors unprecedented control over choosing judges, who are currently elected. The moves are part of a broader trend of Republican politicians asserting more control over the judiciary.
October 18, 2018 -
As Republicans in Florida and West Virginia were about to replace most of the members of their supreme courts, the courts asserted their independence and blocked the partisan moves. But North Carolina's high court still faces the threat of a GOP takeover plan.
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.
August 14, 2018 -
Several lawsuits seek to keep proposed state constitutional amendments off the ballot this November — and one filed by the state NAACP and Clean Air Carolina seeks to have the racially gerrymandered legislature declared illegitimate and blocked from changing the blueprint of state government.
