Stop Voter Suppression in North Carolina | Democracy For America

Stop Voter Suppression in North Carolina | Democracy For America
John Butts@JBMedia - Reports:

To: The North Carolina Legislature 

 

Dear North Carolina Legislators,

As elected lawmakers, you should be encouraging more North Carolinians to exercise their right to vote in every election, not making it harder.

Please vote against the horrible voter ID law and its antidemocratic intent. It will do nothing but disenfranchise thousands of North Carolinians and hurt our democracy.

Why is this important?

Our lawmakers should be encouraging more North Carolinians to vote, not limiting them. Under a new proposed voter ID bill, the North Carolina Legislature wants to make it harder for voters to get to the polls.

On top of strict new voter ID requirements, this bill would:

*shorten early voting by one week
*eliminate same-day registration and provisional voting if at wrong precinct
*prevent counties from offering voting on the last Saturday before the election beyond 1 p.m.
*prevent counties from extending poll hours by one hour on Election Day in extraordinary circumstances (such as lengthy lines)
*eliminate state-supported voter registration drives and preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds
*repeal voter-owned judicial elections and straight party voting
*increase the number of people who can challenge voters inside the precinct
*purge voter rolls more often

 http://youpower.democracyforamerica.com/petitions/stop-voter-suppression-in-north-carolina?Source=c_fb_0723

Trayvon Martin’s parents: Juror B29′s revelations ‘devastating’ | theGrio

Trayvon Martin’s parents: Juror B29′s revelations ‘devastating’ | theGrio
John Butts@JBMedia - Reports:
The mother of Trayvon Martin reacted Thursday to an interview a juror in the George Zimmerman trial gave to ABC News, in which she admitted that she ultimately, she didn’t hold out for a conviction.
The Juror, known only as B29, or “Maddy,” since she revealed herself — including showing her face — to ABC’s Robin Roberts, said Zimmerman “got away with murder” in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, but that Florida law, as understood by the jury, made it impossible to convict.
“I was the juror that was going to give them the hung jury. I fought to the end,” she said during the interview, for which ABC News aired clips on Thursday. “That’s where I felt confused, where if a person kills someone, then you get charged for it. But as the law was read to me, if you have no proof that he killed him intentionally, you can’t say he’s guilty.”
Zimmerman was acquitted on second degree murder and manslaughter charges July 14th.
Maddy, a nurse’s aide and the lone non-white juror on the panel, said she is having trouble sleeping after the verdict.
“It’s hard for me to sleep,” she told ABC. “It’s hard for me to eat because I feel I was forcefully included in Trayvon Martin’s death. And as I carry him on my back, I’m hurting as much Trayvon’s Martin’s mother because there’s no way that any mother should feel that pain,” she said.
 http://thegrio.com/2013/07/25/trayvon-martins-parents-juror-b29s-revelations-devastating/

Easley files amicus brief in lawsuit over Pre-K expansion :: WRAL.com

Easley files amicus brief in lawsuit over Pre-K expansion :: WRAL.com
John Butts@JBMedia - Reports:
Raleigh, N.C. — Former Gov. Mike Easley, who created the More at Four early childhood education program more than a decade ago, has jumped into the legal battle over access to pre-kindergarten programs in North Carolina.
The North Carolina Supreme Court could hear the case as early as October, and Easley filed a brief Wednesday in support of wider access.
"These children, their young minds are perishable commodities," Easley said Thursday.
Two years ago, Manning threw out legislative changes to the early childhood education program that limited access and required parents to pick up part of the cost. He ruled that North Carolina has a constitutional duty to provide pre-kindergarten to at-risk 4-year-olds.

Rand Paul: ‘I don’t think there’s anyone in Congress who has a stronger belief in minority rights than I do’ - Yahoo! News

Rand Paul: ‘I don’t think there’s anyone in Congress who has a stronger belief in minority rights than I do’ - Yahoo! News
John Butts@JBMedia - Reports:

DES MOINES, Iowa – Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said no one in Congress "has a stronger belief in minority rights" than he does and insists he will continue outreach efforts to black and Hispanic voters despite reports about a former aide's past connections to neo-Confederate groups.

In an interview with Yahoo News in Iowa, where Paul spoke to a gathering of Christian pastors and church leaders last week, the possible presidential contender acknowledged that stories about the aide could set back his efforts, but he defended his commitment to bringing more black and Hispanic voters into the Republican Party.
“I’m not easily dissuaded, so it’s not something that makes me shrink away, it makes me come out even stronger to say that I don’t think there’s anyone in Congress who has a stronger belief in minority rights than I do,” Paul told Yahoo News. “Because my conception of justice is that there have been many times in our history when we have done things unfairly to Japanese Americans, to black Americans. I still think that the justice system does not treat African Americans fairly in regard to non-violent drug crime, with regard to felonies being on your record.”http://news.yahoo.com/rand-paul-on-race-and-republican-minority-outreach-173957413.html

What is it like to be Muslim in Congress? | Power Players - Yahoo! News

What is it like to be Muslim in Congress? | Power Players - Yahoo! News
John Butts@JBMedia - Reports:
Keith Ellison stands out on Capitol Hill.
The Minnesota Democrat is the first Muslim elected to Congress, and now is only one of two. He leads a progressive caucus in a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. And he’s not afraid to break out the guitar that he keeps in his office, even playing a few chords of a song for his interview with “The Fine Print.”
When it comes to his religion, Ellison says his fellow members of Congress have generally been respectful but that there have been “a few crazy incidents.”
“Recently, you know, a member said Muslim Americans are not condemning terrorism enough,” Ellison says, referring to a comment made by Rep. Mike Pompeo, R–Kan., that implied that Muslims were being “potentially complicit” in acts of terror if they did not speak out against them.
“And I said, 'well, let me guarantee you, Muslims are condemning terrorism every day all the time ...' and I gave him a whole list, and he said, 'Thanks for telling me, I didn't know, I won't be saying that again,'” Ellison says.http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/muslim-congress-113159405.html?vp=1