From WFAE: Charlotte Talks: NC Courts Become Focus Of Lawmakers’ Tweaks
Republicans in Raleigh do not like losing in court. Their unconstitutional voter suppression tactics continue to be struck down by judges in North Carolina. The GOP’s solution is to take over the courts and rig them in their favor. So far Republicans have politicized the election of judges, canceled the 2018 judicial primaries, proposed reducing judge terms from 4-8 years down to 2, and would like to do away with the election of judges altogether and just appoint them themselves. This undermining of democracy in North Carolina is just wrong, unfair, and against the will of the people.
Are North Carolina lawmakers injecting politics into the state’s judicial branch? Guest host Michael Bitzer looks into efforts to change the courts.
Since Democrat Roy Cooper’s arrival at the governor’s mansion this year, the Republican General Assembly has gone about approving or proposing changes to North Carolina’s judicial branch.
It started with shrinking the state Court of Appeals, which prompted Cooper to sue the legislature. More recently, there have been proposals to redistrict the courts, shorten the terms of judges, and even rumblings of doing away with the election of judges and switch to appointing them.
Judges have criticized the changes, and have questioned if it’s in response to the legislature’s defeats in court.
Why the sudden – and swift – interest in the judiciary?
