(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina GOP enacts law expanding gerrymandered legislature's power over courts and elections [1] ['Daily Kos Staff'] Date: 2023-10-05 North Carolina Republicans have enacted a new budget that became law on Tuesday and contains many provisions to further cement the gerrymandered legislature's power. Since the GOP holds the exact three-fifths supermajorities needed to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's vetoes, he let the bill become law without his signature to avoid delaying Medicaid expansion, one of the few major concessions Democrats won. However, Cooper said he will likely sue over other provisions stripping him of executive power. The new law includes several measures that expand Republican legislators' control over the state court system, and that boost the political power of state Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby. Just months earlier, Newby and his fellow Republican justices had handed down rulings that paved the way for Republican lawmakers to pass new extreme gerrymanders and voting restrictions ahead of the 2024 elections. And this new budget law is a sign of how Republicans are using their control over the legislature and judiciary to entrench their power over both institutions in a self-reinforcing cycle. Among several changes to the judiciary, the law gives Republicans more control over the state commission that handles ethics complaints against judges by eliminating the four nonpartisan commissioners chosen by the State Bar and instead giving their seats to legislative appointees. Consequently, legislators will now appoint six members, the chief justice another six, and the governor just two. Since Newby became chief justice by defeating a Democratic incumbent by just 401 votes in 2020, he has increasingly stacked the commission with loyal Republicans. This past summer, those commissioners moved forward with an investigation that could remove Justice Anita Earls from office—Earls is one of just two Democrats left on the court and its only Black member. Commissioners are investigating claims that Earls violated the ethics code by speaking out about the lack of diversity in the judicial system. The alleged violation stems from when she highlighted a study that found that among advocates who argued before the state Supreme Court, roughly 90% of lawyers were white and 70% were men, even though Earls made clear that she was not accusing her Republican colleagues of conscious bias. In response, Earls has sued the commission in federal court, arguing that it is violating her First Amendment right to free speech. The GOP's new law also creates 10 "special" superior court judges who will serve on the trial-level courts that handle felony criminal cases and major civil cases. But unlike other appellate and superior court judges, who are regularly elected by voters or appointed by the governor, these 10 judges will be chosen by legislators themselves. The legislation also raises the mandatory retirement age for judges from 72 to 76, which means Newby won't have to step down in 2027 and could instead serve through the end of his term in 2028—or even until 2031 if he runs again in 2028 and wins. If a Democrat wins the 2024 election for governor (Cooper is term-limited), this change means they won't be able to appoint a Democrat to replace Newby as chief justice in 2027, further protecting the GOP's majority and the powers that come with the chief's position. The chief's existing powers include a role in selecting which superior court judges hear certain lawsuits against the state itself, but the new law gives Newby and his party even broader power in this area by letting him choose from among the 10 judges appointed by lawmakers. Consequently, Republican legislative leaders effectively will be able to handpick the trial-level judges who will hear cases challenging the laws they've enacted. Republican legislators have also granted themselves ominous new investigative powers, ostensibly to better oversee state agencies, that opponents have likened to a secret police force that the GOP could wield against its political enemies. The sweeping provision gives a legislative committee the power to subpoena private businesses and nonprofits that receive state funding. The provision further enables them to seize documents and enter buildings without warrants if they're connected to publicly funded entities, which could even include a private contractor's home if they run their business out of it. The new budget will also help shield Republicans from public scrutiny and potential legal challenges when they pass new gerrymanders. The law repeals a requirement that most documents and communications related to district maps become public records once the maps are enacted. It also guts public records requirements more generally by letting legislators conceal a wide range of documents related to their official duties, even once they've left office. Republicans plan to pass new gerrymanders of the congressional and legislative maps this month. And on Monday, a top GOP state senator announced that the upcoming map-drawing process would not occur in public view and over livestream, as had been the norm for the past four years. Republicans had actually drawn maps in secret after the 2020 census despite proclaiming redistricting all happened publicly, but that charade won't be necessary this time. Thanks to the new budget law, Republicans have no reason to fear their private documents becoming public records. The new law also bans North Carolina from joining the Electronic Registration Information Center, a nonpartisan multistate partnership that has helped dozens of states maintain accurate voting rolls and prevent double voting. Just last year, North Carolina Republicans had approved funding to join ERIC, but several Republican-led states have since exited ERIC, citing various conspiracy theories. However, Republicans’ true motivation may be to avoid its requirement to send voter-registration materials to eligible unregistered voters. The new budget law isn't the only way North Carolina Republicans are seeking to cement their power regardless of public opinion. Republicans recently passed two bills that would enact several new voting restrictions and strip Cooper of his power to appoint the state's election boards by transferring it to the legislature. Cooper vetoed both bills, but Republicans will likely override his vetoes soon, and we'll have more in-depth coverage once they become law. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/5/2197088/-North-Carolina-GOP-enacts-law-expanding-gerrymandered-legislature-s-power-over-courts-and-elections?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_recent_news&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/