north carolina general assembly
September 13, 2021 -
The North Carolina NAACP is challenging the racially gerrymandered legislature's authority to put a voter ID question on the ballot, which voters passed in 2018. The state's highest court has postponed arguments while it decides whether two justices closely connected to the legislature must sit out the case.
August 20, 2021 -
North Carolina's Republican-controlled legislature is now redrawing state House and Senate election districts. It must comply with the Voting Rights Act — and a 1968 constitutional amendment that's been at odds with the VRA.
September 16, 2020 -
In a lawsuit filed by the state NAACP over constitutional amendments passed by a legislature that federal courts found to be racially gerrymandered, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled to uphold them, reversing a lower court's decision. The group is now taking the case to the state Supreme Court.
July 14, 2020 -
Facing mounting costs and legal challenges, the Southern energy giants have canceled the $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline planned to carry fracked gas from West Virginia to Virginia and North Carolina. The move came after intense opposition to the project from environmentalists, racial justice advocates, and local communities, and it will allow the companies to focus on meeting state renewable mandates.
February 26, 2020 -
Ruling that a 2018 voter ID law could disenfranchise black voters, the North Carolina Court of Appeals put it on hold last week. A federal court had already blocked the law through the state's primaries, and this latest decision means it's likely to be blocked through November.
December 5, 2019 -
As the N.C. Supreme Court decides whether to move a prominent portrait of a slave-owning justice, lower courts are hearing lawsuits involving Confederate monuments. One judge recently signed a controversial settlement order in which UNC agreed to give a pro-Confederate group $2.5 million to care for a statue toppled by anti-racist protesters.
October 10, 2019 -
The same court that recently ordered fair districts for the state's legislative elections will soon hear a lawsuit challenging North Carolina's congressional districts for being too partisan. The plaintiffs want an expedited trial, since a GOP legislator openly stated that the current map was drawn to elect 10 Republicans out of 13 districts in a state that's almost evenly divided along party lines.
