Posted on 06/13/2002 9:47:52 AM PDT by Constitution Day
NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY
1506 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, North Carolina 27605
Tel. (919) 828-6423 Fax. (919) 899-3815
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2002
State Senate Democrats Slash Judicial Support Staff in Retaliation for Redistricting Outcome
Superior Court Judge Jenkins' District Recombined With Another to Demote Him, Eliminate His Assistants Job
(RALEIGH) The North Carolina Senate Subcommittee on Justice and Public Safety yesterday released a proposed budget that retaliates against both the Superior Court Judge and State Supreme Court Justices that recently ruled against the Democrat leadership in the redistricting lawsuit that resulted in two sets of Democrat-drawn redistricting plans being ruled unconstitutional.
The proposal from Sen. Allen Wellons (D-Johnston County) six-member subcommittee effectively strips Johnston County Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins, Jr. from his position as a Senior Resident Superior Court Judge and eliminates the position of his assistant by combining fast-growing Johnston County with Lee and Harnett Counties to form one judicial district.
In addition, Sen. Wellons five Democrat and one Republican subcommittee sliced through the already-thin ranks of support staff at the N.C. Supreme Court. The proposal eliminates one of the two law clerks assigned to each Justice to provide crucial research assistance and support for the incredibly complex and far-reaching cases that reach the states highest court each year. Also eliminated would be the administrative assistant to the Chief Justice and the two-person Public Information office that responds to all citizen and media inquiries for the $397 million, 5,469-employee Administrative Office of the Courts.
Democrat leaders in the State Senate have once again shown their true colors by making a blatantly partisan retaliatory strike, said Bill Cobey, Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. When they couldnt win on the merits in court to get their rigged legislative districts, they chose to attack through the budget process the Superior Court Judge and Supreme Court Justices who stood up to them to defend the North Carolina Constitution.
This is one of the most corrupt and dirty tactics ever engineered against our state judiciary, and we have Marc Basnight, Tony Rand, and Allen Wellons to blame for endangering the core functions of the courts, said Cobey.
There should now be no question in anyones mind that corrupt Senate Democrats will stop at nothing to retain the political power and perks they have enjoyed for decades at taxpayer expense, said Cobey.
For more information, contact Jonathan Jordan at (919) 828-6423.
Now we see that even, Judges, who rule in favor of reality instead the democrats infusions of delusions, is no safer from retribution than the lowliest State employee who dares go against the demands of the liberal democrat's machine.
Let's hope the voters who are still registered as Democrats, even though they have voted otherwise for several decades, will now turn completely away from the party of the arrogant tyrants,that tolorates no independent thought..
They're putting pebbles in the way of the horsemen of the Republican Apocalypse:
Patriotism, Family Values, Tax Cuts, and Constitutional Government!
Civil War in Raleigh
Just when you thought you'd heard it all...
Just when you thought you'd heard it all, comes the latest escalation in the war between Democrats and Republicans and the constitutional conflict between the legislative and judicial branches in Raleigh.
Whether this will hasten the day when voters may actually go to the polls and vote in a primary is unknown, but the details of this confrontation are both entertaining and appalling.
When last we heard from Johnston Superior Court Judge Knox V. Jenkins, he had just imposed new legislative redistricting plans that would make elections more competitive than they have been in years. Many regard this as good. But Democrats reject the notion that Judge Jenkins had any business making elections competitive.
Nor do many Democrats accept the theory that Judge Jenkins had the authority to impose his own plans after the N.C. Supreme Court ruled the legislature's earlier plans unconstitutional. The Supreme Court outlined several criteria for drawing districts and said if legislators couldn't comply with his timetable, Judge Jenkins could "seek ... and adopt temporary or interim remedial plans" for legislative elections and then seek approval from the U.S. Justice Department.
The legislature did create new redistricting plans and present them to the judge. He reviewed them and then imposed his own plans -- including a Senate plan based largely on a Republican map. Democrats complained that the judicial branch of government exceeded its authority by drawing plans, a duty reserved by the N.C. Constitution for the legislature. They say what we're witnessing is a historic constitutional confrontation between the legislative and judicial branches.
Now the Democrats have escalated this confrontation on two fronts:
In a Senate budget financing plan aimed primarily at dealing with the state's funding problems, Democrats cut in half the number of law clerks that Supreme Court justices can hire. And they redrew Judge Jenkins' judicial district by merging it with an adjacent district -- in effect demoting Judge Jenkins from senior resident Superior Court judge. These moves save money -- and anger Republicans.
Since the plans include some districts covered by the federal Voting Rights Act, they must pass federal review before going into effect. The State Board of Elections voted 4-1 in an emergency meeting Wednesday to ask a three-judge federal court in Washington, D.C., to review Judge Jenkins' plans and the state Supreme Court's ruling. The practical effect of this is to have three judges, perhaps including Democrats, doing the reviewing, rather than Republican lawyers in President Bush's Justice Department.
Those without a partisan dog in this fight may be inclined to view it as a petty snit between constantly warring political factions. Democrats have been gerrymandering Republicans out of power since Moses was in third grade, and Republicans have been using the courts to try to get it back.
What's worrisome is whether all this back-and-forth is diminishing public confidence in the courts' ability to deliver justice and the legislature's ability to deliver essential services. Both sides should take a deep breath and reconsider what they're doing, and why.
Maybe I'm not yet fully awake, but it looks like the Observer is more sympathetic to the Republican position in the redistricting battle. Of course, they did revert to form in the last paragraph when they imply that the legislature's primary function is "to deliver essential services."
EVery day a new lawsuit is being filed by the Dems against the Bush administration.
Surely the GOP in NC can do the same! Take it to the courts!!!!
And make it a class action lawsuit on behalf of all NC citizens who believe in fairness in voting instead of gerrymandering districts just so Demoncreep candidates will win.
CD
See #22!
Nope, you're not wrong. The last time a bunch of black folks down here decided to get together and vote Republican, a crowd of KKKlansmen had them rounded up and killed. Black republicans haven't been a blip on the NC map since then.
I will get in touch with you next week either by FR mail or phone.
FRegards,
CD
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