11 > 11H11111111111111111111111■1i1111h11111i l i 11111 DBVI7 12/01/16 **c UNC-CH SERIALS DEPARTMENT DAVIS LIBRARY CP# 3936 P 0 BOX 8890 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2016 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 50 CENTS VOLUME 95 - NUMBER 25 North Carolina photo ID, voting law challenges return to court By Gary D. Robertson RALEIGH (AP) - Far- reaching voting changes in North Carolina approved by Republicans three years ago and upheld by a federal judge now head to an ap peals court that previously sided with those chal lenging the law on racial grounds. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sched uled oral arguments, just two months after a lower court ruled photo identifi cation requirements to vote in person, early-voting re strictions and other chang es violated neither the fed eral Voting Rights Act nor the Constitution. The appeals court’s de cision to accelerate review of the case reinforces the stakes involved with the outcome in an election year, particularly in North Carolina. The presidential battleground state also has big races for governor and U.S. Senate on the fall bal lot. “The legislative actions at issue must be analyzed in the context of the high levels of racially polarized voting in North Carolina, where many elections are sensitive to even slight shifts in voting,” lawyers for the U.S. Justice De partment wrote in a brief heading into the arguments before three judges in Rich mond, Virginia. Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G. K. Butterfield Demands Apology From FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly WASHINGTON, D.C. - CBC Chairman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) is sued the following state ment in response to FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly and disparaging comments he made about Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn: “The Congressional Black Caucus is outraged Bill O’Reilly would make such a disparaging state ment on national tele vision regarding an es teemed member of the CBC. His statement is insulting, provocative and unbecoming of a profes sional commentator. Mr. O’Reilly should disavow his comments and issue an apology to Congressman Clyburn immediately.” The 2013 law being chal lenged by the department, state NAACP and other groups and voters required voters to show one of six qualifying IDs before cast ing a ballot. A change to the law last summer granted more exceptions to Dr. William T. Logan Durham Educator Named 2016 NCAE Principal of the Year Hillside High School Principal Dr. William T. Logan III is the recipient of the 2016 North Carolina Associa tion of Educators’ (NCAE) Principal of the Year Award. He will be recognized during a special presentation at the Durham County School Board meeting, 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, (511 Cleveland St.), where NCAE Vice President-Elect Kristy Moore will present him with a plaque. The Principal of the Year Award is given annually by the Principals/Administrators Division of the North Caro lina Association of Educators. Logan describes his choice to pursue a career in educa tion as “divine intervention.” “I had hopes of becoming an attorney when I entered college. To learn more about the profession, 1 attended a panel discussion on campus during the week of orientation. It was at this discussion that I learned I did not have to major in political science to attend law school. Impressed by the presenter, I decid ed to study the same major as he - professional English. I fell in love after registering for my first education course and participating in my first classroom observation.” An educator for 19 years, Logan has dedicated his ca reer to ensuring that teachers increase their professional capacity and that students, especially those who are un der performing, achieve at levels unimagined by most. “Helping my colleagues and students grow is what keeps me motivated,” he said. Logan has served as the principal of Hillside High for four years, where he also held the position of new tech high school principal and assistant principal. Prior to becoming an administrator, he was a middle school lan guage arts teacher and a high school English teacher. A graduate of South Carolina State University, Logan has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Education and a master’s in Counselor Education. He earned his doctor ate in Education Administration and Supervision from the University of Southern Mississippi. NCAE is the state’s largest education advocacy organi zation for public school employees and represents active, student, and retired members. Register Now to Vote in 2016 those unable to obtain an ID. The photo ID mandate began with the March 15 primary. Close to 20 states have photo ID mandates, including a Texas law that is now being examined by the full Sth Circuit. The law also reduced early-voting by seven days, eliminated same-day reg istration during the early- voting period and barred the counting of Election Day ballots cast in the wrong precinct. During two trials over the past year, those who sued said the changes were dis criminatory because they disproportionately harmed black voters that use early voting and cast out-of precinct ballots more than other voting groups. Their lawyers also said minority residents lacked photo ID more than others. But U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder in Win ston-Salem wrote in April the plaintiffs didn’t prove the laws made it harder for minority voters to cast ballots. Schroeder empha sized data showing higher voter registration and turn out rates among black resi dents in 2014, when many changes were implement ed, compared to 2010. Attorneys for the state and GOP Gov. Pat Mc Crory, who signed the challenged laws, say the appeals court should leave Schroeder’s 485-page deci sion alone. The “plaintiffs have failed to cite a single case where a state has been guilty of purposeful dis crimination because it en acted photo identification requirements or any of the current election practices implemented,” the lawyers wrote in their appeals brief. They pointed to testimony that 94 percent of all regis tered black voters had ac ceptable ID and more than 99 percent voted without casting an out-of-precinct ballot. Still, that equates to thousands of people being disenfranchised, according to those challenging the law. The plaintiffs stress a 2014 ruling in the case by a majority on a three-judge panel at the 4th Circuit that found two elements neces sary for a vote-denial claim to be successful: the vot ing laws must impose a discriminatory burden on a protected class and must be caused or linked to social or historical conditions. “On each ofthese scores, the case-critical evidence remains undisputed,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote. That divided panel or dered a preliminary injunc tion directing same-day registration and out-of- precinct voting continue while the case was pend ing. A majority on the U.S. Supreme Court soon dis agreed and blocked that or der for the November 2014 election. But subsequent court rulings have allowed Long-time civil and community activist Mrs. Ann Atwa ter died Monday June 20. She was 80 years old. Mrs. Atwa ter was best known for her alliance with former Ku Klux Klansman C.P. Ellis. What started as a fight over desegre gation of Durham Public Schools ended with an alliance to fight for better schools for underprivileged black and white students. The union was documented in the book “The Best Of Enemies: Race And Redemption In The New South,” by Osha Gray Davidson. Here she is shown at the dedication of the Civil rights Mural in downtown Durham in January 2015. same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting to re sume. It’s unclear whether the same three-judge panel will hear Tuesday’s arguments. Attorneys don’t know which judges will be seated until the morning of the hearing. Accrediting agency warns Elizabeth City State ELIZABETH CITY (AP) - The agency that reviews accredi tation for Elizabeth City State University has warned the histori cally black college it needs to improve its financial aid practices or it could end up on probation. An audit by University of North Carolina system officials found the school admitted students who did not qualify and gave financial aid to students who did not properly apply or deserve it. Elizabeth City State officials say they will implement recom mendations made by UNC by the end of the year and that should solve the problems cited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Cdmmission on Colleges. The warning is not as serious as being put on probation. The school has an enrollment of about 1,600 students. Fraternity criticizing Trump in defense of federal judge WASHINGTON (AP) _ One of the nation’s largest black fra ternities is criticizing presumptive Republican presidential can didate Donald Trump for his attacks on a federal judge. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. has come to the defense of U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is a member of that fra ternity. Trump has claimed the U.S.-born Curiel cannot preside fairly over a case involving Trump University because the judge is of Mexican heritage and Trump wants to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. The fraternity’s leader, Thomas L. Battles Jr., says "Kappa Alpha Psi stands firmly against the practice of judging a man solely by his race, creed or national origin.” Curiel joined Kappa Alpha Psi at its alpha chapter at Indi ana University. The fraternity has more than 150,000 members around the world. / Mother of hanged teen is satisfied with federal investigation RALEIGH (AP) - A civil rights group says the mother of a black teen whose body was found hanging from a swing set by a dog leash and a belt that didn’t belong to him are satisfied federal authorities did a thorough investigation that determined the death was a suicide. The North Carolina NAACP released a statement saying that 17-year-old Lennon Lacy’s mother also received a promise the case could be re-opened if new evidence was found, noting there is no statute of limitations on a murder charge in the state. Lacy was found hanging in August 2014 in Bladenboro about 100 miles south of Raleigh. A day after federal prosecutors announced their investiga tion was closed, local prosecutors said Friday they also think the death was a suicide.

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view