Billy Corriher

Could the North Carolina Supreme Court finally release ruling in Leandro case on Friday? It's last potential release date of the year for ruling. State Board of Education, which is a party in lawsuit, has called a special meeting for Friday morning to consult with its attorney. #nced #ncpol

The NC Supreme Court’s inexplicable, historic silence on Leandro | Opinion Gene Nichol: To be honest, I’m not anxious to hear from Paul Newby’s court. They’re no friends to the low-income students of North Carolina. | Opinion

Did you know that the NC Constitution guarantees an equal public education to every student in the state? When lawmakers and judges side with wealthy private schools over rural and low income students, something has to change. #ncpol #court
https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article313456307.html

The NC Supreme Court’s inexplicable, historic silence on Leandro | Opinion Gene Nichol: To be honest, I’m not anxious to hear from Paul Newby’s court. They’re no friends to the low-income students of North Carolina. | Opinion

The NC Supreme Court’s inexplicable, historic silence on Leandro | Opinion (School Funding) #ncpol www.newsobserver.com/opinion/arti...

But Earls isn’t running against Paul Newby. She’s running against his close ally Rep. Sarah Stevens. When I was in the House, I watched Stevens run multiple bills that she would proudly tell us were requested by the chief justice. One of her bills even raised the mandatory retirement age for judges so that Newby could complete his term. Newby and Stevens combined played a major role in giving Republicans control of Congress. A Newby maneuver allowed the Supreme Court to reconsider and then overturn its earlier ruling that partisan gerrymandering violates North Carolina’s constitution and our right to fair elections. And after Stevens’ GOP redrew our previous 7-7 congressional map to elect 10 Republicans, it gave Republicans the majority they hold in the U.S. House this term. Think about how monumentally consequential that was. To me, this is the single most important race on the ballot in 2026 - because of the stark difference between the candidates in terms of their values and because of the immense importance of our courts in returning North Carolina back to a representative democracy.. To reclaim the courts, we’ll also have to win the two of the seats that are up in 2028. Perhaps then a Democratic majority can press forward with restrictions on abusive gerrymandering and so many other good things. There are also three seats on the Court of Appeals at issue in this election. These seats are all currently held by Democrats and it is essential we hold onto them so that we can make further gains in 2028.

State Rep. Sarah Stevens, who is challenging Justice Anita Earls next year, is Chief Justice Newby’s point person for getting his bills passed. #ncpol A post from Sen. @graigmeyer.bsky.social

the idea that a handful of conservative legal scholars have an understanding that should supersede a settlement affirmed my generations of american is astoundingly arrogant, and the idea that trump — or any president — can unilaterally overturn that settlement is just despotism

dhsgov Deliver justice to criminal illegal aliens. Become a deportation judge. Save your country.

DOJ's newest recruitment ad features Judge Dredd, the comic satire about the dangers of lawless policing and authoritarian power

Trump’s DOJ is building a voter purge machine—powered by your private data The federal agency ordinarily would prevent attacks on voting rights. Now it’s carrying them out.

So many scandals now but pay attention to this: DOJ has sued 14 states-12 led by Dems-to demand full unredacted voter files in order to turbocharge Trump voter suppression plans

@abbyvesoulis.bsky.social & I detail threat this poses to voting rights ahead of 2026 www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

And even supposing it is now the ninth or tenth hour, whose choice was that? It was of course the Texas legisla- ture that decided to change its map six months before a March primary. The plaintiffs could not have moved any faster: They requested an injunction before the new law was even signed. And to try to speed the litigation, they de- clined discovery. (That decision, by the way, probably ac- counted for their failure to submit an alternative map, which to be probative must be based on the State’s particu- lar districting criteria. See supra, at 13 n.) The District Court moved expeditiously too, issuing its 160-page opinion (on November 18) just a month after post-hearing briefing concluded. No one dilly-dallied in this case. The District Court ruled as “late” as it did because the legislature en- acted a new map less than three months before. If Purcell prevents such a ruling, it gives every State the opportunity to hold an unlawful election. The District Court, once again aptly, made the point: Were judicial re- view so broadly foreclosed, then to implement even a “bla- tantly unconstitutional map,” the “Legislature would need only to pass” it on a schedule like this one. App. 154–155. That cannot be the law—except of course that today it is. According to the majority, Texas had a free pass to redis- trict in August 2025 for the 2026 House elections. See ante, at 2. All that the plaintiffs can hope for is better luck in 2028.

As Kagan notes, SCOTUS has given states a cheat code to enact illegally racist voting laws: just pass them close enough to an election that the Purcell principle will bar judicial review!

Under this logic, courts couldn’t block actual Jim Crow laws within a year of an election. It can’t be right.

Simply amazing that the Supreme Court declared an end to legal race discrimination in the affirmative action case two years ago and now allows overt racism in both immigration arrests and redistricting.

Using race to help minorities? Bad. Using it to discriminate against them? Very, very good.

To Protect Gerrymanders, GOP Lawmakers Target Judges — and Voters Read more here.

“The GOP’s attacks are highlighting the importance of state courts as perhaps the last line of defense for protecting fair elections.”
@billycorriher.bsky.social for @democracydocket.com

www.democracydocket.com/opinion/to-p...

To Protect Gerrymanders, GOP Lawmakers Target Judges — and Voters Read more here.

GOP legislators are attacking the courts and the citizen-sponsored amendments that could stop their gerrymandering. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/to-p...

To Protect Gerrymanders, GOP Lawmakers Target Judges — and Voters Read more here.

GOP legislators are attacking the courts and the citizen-sponsored amendments that could stop their gerrymandering. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/to-p...

YouTube video by Tying It Together with Tim Boyum This law professor says N.C. must fight for justice now | Tying It Together

"We're in a fight for our democracy"

UNC law professor Gene Nichol joins me to talk about his new book and his prior battles with the Republican led legislature.

#ncpol #democracy #author #book #politics #law #poverty

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7MS...

North Carolina Prison Officials Raise Prices for Those Who Can Least Afford It - Bolts It’s 4:30 pm on a Monday as Colell Steele stands in front of the closed canteen window at Neuse Correctional, a medium-custody prison in North Carolina. He’s lined up to... Read More

NEW: North Carolina prison officials, this summer, raised the price of items that incarcerated people can buy.

The prices are already way marked-up; & incarcerated people make a tiny fraction of minimum wage if they work.

An incarcerated reporter explains what's happening, & why it matters:

Also worth noting that from the time literally George Washington was president to 2021, Nashville was one Congressional District.

Spoke with Court of Appeals Judge Toby Hampson, who was on a panel that moved to toss out ballots of NC voters who were falsely accused of never residing in the state. "We were just making assumptions about these voters based on their appearance on a list," Hampson said. #ncpol

Yep, I debated Doran a few years ago on whether Justice Berger Jr. should rule on lawsuits against Senator Berger Sr. She’s the only one willing to defend their obvious corruption.

Take a look at ProPublica’s reporting and explain how Newby doesn’t flout ethics rules. Doran is such a joke. She admits that a direct financial interest would require recusal, while ignoring Newby’s Duke Energy stock and his rulings for the company. www.propublica.org/article/paul...

The article’s implication that Newby routinely flouts ethical norms is not borne out by any official sanction. The instances cited — where Newby ruled in cases where, for example, he had some historical connection to a party — are at best debatable, at worst baseless. It’s a well-settled principle in judicial ethics that past, distant affiliations, absent financial interest or direct involvement, do not warrant recusal. The article’s criticism relies on innuendo rather than any finding of impropriety by disciplinary bodies.

NC GOP machine responds to ProPublica’s story on Paul Newby’s corruption. Doran says he doesn’t flout ethics rules, because he wasn’t sanctioned. But the GOP justices, who get final say, didn’t sanction GOP judges who admitted they violated the rules. www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/prop... #ncpol

ICYMI: A Wisconsin Supreme Court justice used a fake quote and citation in a high-profile dissent. She completely turned SCOTUS' 2023 gerrymandering ruling (out of North Carolina) on its head. #AI

Democracy NC's 2024 County Board of Elections Report reveals what really happened at the polls: 2,708 ballots rejected by new mail deadlines. 65,000+ provisional ballots cast. 74% of ID-related provisional voters disenfranchised. #NCpol

There was a time, not so long ago, we had this thing called "conflicts of interest"

I know. Myers has been good sometimes. Finally did the right thing with Griffin and Riggs. But very disappointing ruling on the districts.

(He’s still better than Thomas Farr, who would’ve been in that seat.)

Yeah, it sucks. It was all-GOP, which is wild in the Fourth Circuit. Not sure I remember that ever happening before, for either party.

Reports reveal shady dealings by N.C.’s legislators and its top judge, but no action has followed | Opinion Investigations reveal campaign contributions, budget maneuvers and developer influence in Raleigh and Mooresville, highlighting corruption risks in North Carolina politics and demand reform.

Extreme gerrymanders fuel rampant corruption by eliminating any electoral stakes

#ncpol

Judges uphold North Carolina map for use in 2026 elections The panel was not swayed by arguments that lawmakers can’t choose to redistrict solely for political advantage.

North Carolina’s new congressional map, expected to gain Republicans an additional seat in the U.S. House, will be used during the midterms, barring further court intervention. #nccourts #ncpol

@courthousenews.bsky.social

www.courthousenews.com/judges-uphol...

Last week, NC A&T students lost their on-campus #earlyvoting site. Let's be clear about what this means. #NCpol

This is voter suppression. This is a direct attack on Black voter freedoms. This is exactly how democracy gets dismantled!

#ncpol

Missouri AG Launches Last-Ditch Immigration Probe into Referendum that Threatens GOP Gerrymander Read more here.

BREAKING: Missouri's AG has opened an immigration-related investigation into the signature drive aiming to overturn the GOP’s gerrymander.

She’s now demanding a list of employees and their identity documents just weeks before the signature deadline.