North Carolina Open Thread: Justice, Child marriage, Art Pope, NC Trumpism and Cawthorn's Corner

I represented an innocent man on death row: Here’s why NC must end the death penalty

Vernetta Alston 5/14/2021

State Representative Vernetta Alston of Durham is the lead sponsor HB 724, which would repeal the North Carolina death penalty. Here, she explains why she believes North Carolina must end the death penalty:

In September 2014, I was sitting with Henry McCollum at the moment a judge ordered his release from death row for a crime he did not commit. Many folks in the courtroom clapped in celebration. Others embraced out of relief. It had been 30 years since Henry and his brother Leon Brown – two innocent and intellectually disabled children – had been convicted and sentenced to death in Robeson County, North Carolina. A case that had captured the country’s attention had come to an end for the two men, who had unflinchingly claimed their innocence for all those years.

The press, lawyers, and advocates rushed to announce the court’s decision. The courthouse buzzed as they explained the 30-years of injustice – undisclosed evidence, new DNA results, the rush to judgment that failed to give closure to the family of the victim, the wrongful incarceration – endured by Henry and his little brother, Leon.

But Henry, the innocent man at the center of it all, remained solemn. After the judge ordered his release, he was led, still shackled, to a small, dim holding area of the same courthouse that took his freedom to begin with. I knelt near him for a few minutes. He was silent and didn’t make eye contact. He was overwhelmed.

BILL RAISING LEGAL MARRIAGE AGE FROM 14 TO 16 PASSES UNANIMOUSLY: Fourteen- and 15-year-olds would no longer be allowed to marry in North Carolina under a bill the state Senate unanimously adopted on Wednesday. North Carolina has the lowest minimum marriage age in the country at just 14.

Sen. Vickie Sawyer, R-Iredell, initially pushed to raise the marrying age to 18, saying she found that most child marriages involve abuse and poverty and end in divorce. But she backed off after hearing from people who said their mothers or grandmothers had married at younger ages and had happy, if difficult, lives.

The International Center for Research on Women reviewed marriage license applications in 50 North Carolina counties from 2000 to 2019 and found more than 4,000 minors had applied to be married during that time. https://www.wral.com/senate-oks-raising-legal-age-to-marry-in-nc-from-14-to-16/19674831/

scharrison, 05/13/2021

“This is the story of a leader returning to a place that transformed her life and career trajectory,” said Susan King, dean of the Hussman School, in announcing the hire. “Giving back is part of Nikole’s DNA, and now one of the most respected investigative journalists in America will be working with our students on projects that will move their careers forward and ignite critically important conversations.”

On the state’s political right, however, Hanna-Jones has been met with a very different reception. Pulitzer Prize? MacArthur Fellowship? “Questionable credentials,” said the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal (formerly known as the Pope Center for Higher Education). One of America’s most respected investigative journalists? The same group termed that a “charade” concocted by “a powerful coalition with Democratic socialists, the media, and ‘woke’ crony capitalists.”

Make no mistake, one of Art Pope's lifelong crusades has been to force major changes to the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Stymied in his effort to install a School of Western Civilization (White European Supremacy) several years ago, he has nevertheless continued efforts to bend the University to his will. His minions were instrumental in the closure of UNC's Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity, proving that if he's not allowed to "add" to the University, he will settle with subtracting. Hanna-Jones is actually ideal for this teaching slot.

Echoes of Trumpism continue to dominate at the General Assembly

Rob Schofield 5/11/2021

While his serial dishonesty and corruption, criminal negligence in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and complicity in a failed coup d’état clearly combined to make Donald Trump one of the worst presidents in American history, you have to hand the former chief executive one thing: the man continues to inspire slavish loyalty from his blinded followers.

In few places is this more evident than in the North Carolina General Assembly where, as lawmakers race to meet the May 13 “crossover deadline” by shoveling scores of minimally reviewed bills from one house to the other, Trumpian reaction remains the dominant theme.

A decade ago, when Republicans assumed control of the legislature, there was still some plausible notion that modern “conservatism” retained a connection (at least in some corners) to things like limited government, equal opportunity, shared sacrifice and selfless public service.

Special to PW: ALEC-inspired bill promoting more campaign finance secrecy should be rejected

Melissa Price Kromm 5/11/2021

Four out of five Americans, across the political spectrum, consistently support transparency when it comes to contributions to organizations that spend money on campaigns. Unfortunately, a growing number of states, now including North Carolina, are advancing so-called “donor privacy” bills to block public access to information about who is spending big money to secretly influence our vote and our government.

Senate Bill 636, is one such bill that is on track to pass the state Senate this week. What’s more, the mandate in this bill to conceal donor information applies not just to 501(c)(3) charitable, religious, and education organizations, but also to 501(c)(4) organizations that regularly engage in substantial partisan campaign activity, 501(c)(5) labor organizations and 501(c)(6) organizations like chambers of commerce.

Basically, if someone wants to spend big in North Carolina elections, all they will need to do under this legislation is to find some nonprofit groups through which they can route the money and they can be certain that the public won’t be able to trace the cash back to them. The effect will be to render limits on campaign contributions even more meaningless than they already are.

Liz Cheney ousted from U.S. House GOP leadership for rejecting Trump’s “big lie”

Ariana Figueroa 5/12/2021

NC’s Foxx and Cawthorn help lead the charge in punishing congresswoman for speaking truths about the former president

WASHINGTON—House Republicans voted Wednesday to remove U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership position after her continued pushback against former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud in the presidential election.

Saying they want to unite the party in an attempt to win back the House in the 2022 midterm elections, GOP lawmakers in a closed door meeting removed Cheney, (R-Wyo.), in a voice vote. Rep. Virginia Foxx, (R-N.C.), introduced a resolution to strip Cheney of her post as conference chair, the No. 3 leadership job.

Another North Carolina Republican, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, tweeted after the vote: “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye Liz Cheney.”

Thanks for reading and contributing, I hope you have a safe week. See you next Sunday!