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VOLUME 95 - NUMBER 51
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA -SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2016 TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 50 CENTS
Protesters rip GOP for taking
away next governor’s ‘power’
By Gary D. Robertson
RALEIGH (AP) - Protesters
say the North Carolina legisla
ture’s actions limiting the next
governor’s influence before he
even takes office were uncon
stitutional power grabs by GOP
legislators unhappy their candi
date didn’t win re-election.
“We voted for a new governor
and they’re choosing to come
and ... take away the power,”
said Caren Parker of Carrboro,
among the crowd who demon
strated this week against the
Republican-controlled General
Assembly, leading to more than
50 arrests.
So what’s next for Gov.-elect
Roy Cooper and other fellow
Democrats now that a special
session is over that passed laws
designed to weaken them?
Lawsuits and more demon
strations are likely, although it’s
unclear how effective those will
'be.
“Once more, the courts will
have to clean up the mess the
legislature made, but it won’t
stop us from moving North
Carolina forward,” Cooper said
in a statement after the legisla
ture adjourned an extraordinary
three-day special session Dec.
16.
McCrory, who lost to Cooper
by about 10,000 votes in Novem
ber, quickly signed into law a bill
that merges the State Board of
Elections and State Ethics Com
mission into one board com
posed equally of Democrats and
Republicans. The previous state
elections board law would have
allowed Cooper to put a majority
of Democrats on the panel.
The law would also make
elections for appellate court
judgeships officially partisan
again, which could favor Re
publicans. A Democrat’s win
last month in an officially non-
partisan Supreme Court race will
give the party its first majority on
the court in almost 20 years.
Another bill that received fi
nal legislative approval would
subject Cooper’s Cabinet choic
es to Senate confirmation and
would allow Cooper to designate
only up to 425 state employees
as his political appointees, com
pared with a cap of 1,500 for
McCrory.
The Cabinet bill apparently
remains on McCrory’s desk.
Emails and a phone call to Mc
Crory’s office seeking comment
weren’t returned. With 30 days
to decide whether to sign or veto
a bill, McCrory could kick the
bill to his successor Cooper, al
though that’s unlikely. Republi
cans will continue holding veto-
proof majorities in 2017.
Republicans call their ap
proval of legislation reasonable
actions to rebalance state gov
ernment before a new adminis
tration takes office. The North
Carolina governor’s powers have
expanded since the state became
the last in the country to give the
veto to its executive in 1997.
(Continued On Page 2)
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch
President Barack Obama gives a personal Presidential coin to Nick Wetzel, 15-year-old Make-
A-Wish recipient from Peoria, Ariz., during a visit in the Oval Office, Dec. 9, 2016. Nick was ac
companied by his brother Stephan, shown, mother Nancy Wetzel and his brother Gregory. (Official
White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Getting in the Christmas Spirit was the theme of the Durham Christmas Parade.
See photos on page 7)
AG Lynch pushes Baltimore to
reach police consent decree
By Eric Tucker
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Dec. 15 stepped up the pressure on Balti
more officials to reach a deal with the federal government to overhaul the city’s police practices, saying
“the ball is in the city’s court” to conclude negotiations soon.
Lynch, who took office in April 2015 as riots roiled Baltimore after the death of a black man in police
custody, said she intends to return to Baltimore in January to give an update on efforts to reach a court-
enforceable consent decree.
Her statements seemed intended to publicly push Baltimore toward a resolution and appeared to re
flect disappointment in the pace of negotiations.
Though consent decrees can take months to negotiate, the federal government and Baltimore already
had reached an agreement in principle by August, when the Justice Department issued a report that identi
fied discriminatory policing practices and pervasive civil rights violations.
The Justice Department is looking to conclude the process by Jan. 20, when the Obama administration
ends and Lynch and other leaders will move on - a timeline for completion that remains possible. The city
has been provided with each of the sections of the proposed consent decree and has had some of the sec
tions for months, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who was not authorized to discuss
the ongoing talks and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“At this point, the ball is in the city’s court, but we are looking forward to getting a positive response
from them on finalizing this consent decree,” Lynch said.
Anthony McCarthy, a spokesman for the new mayor, Catherine Pugh, said the city was committed to
working with the Justice Department. He said the city had already undertaken some of the changes that
Washington sought and wanted to see those improvements acknowledged in the report.
“She also wants us to ensure that the consent decree is in the best interest of the people of Baltimore.
It’s a huge financial commitment attached to this consent decree,” McCarthy said.
A consent decree, filed in federal court and overseen by a monitor, often is a road map for changes in
fundamental police department practices, such as in how officers use deadly force and carry out traffic
stops.
The Justice Department has the ability to sue cities that refuse to reach such an agreement. The gov
ernment sued Ferguson, Missouri, under similar circumstances earlier this year after the City Council
there balked at the overhaul plan, though the two sides ultimately reached a resolution.
“It’s good for both parties because it sets forth the framework of what the city has to do. It sets forth
the benchmarks the city has to meet,” Lynch said at a discussion hosted by Politico.
The Justice Department opened an investigation into Baltimore’s police department last year, weeks
after the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who was injured in a police transport van.
A harshly critical report in August found that Baltimore police officers routinely discriminate against
blacks, repeatedly use excessive force and are not adequately held accountable for misconduct.
Jonathan Smith, the former chief ofthe Justice Department’s special litigation section, which conducts
investigations like the one into Baltimore, cautioned against reading too much into Lynch’s comments.
He said it makes sense for the department to look to conclude a major project before the end of the ad
ministration, and that a deal was likely very near.
Associated Press writer Juliet Linderman in Baltimore contributed to this report.
President Barack Obama greets Kevin Costner after greeting Octavia Spencer, center, and Tar-
aji P. Henson while dropping by for a surprise visit as the First Lady met with the cast of the film
“Hidden Figures” prior to a screening of the film in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building
South Court Auditorium, Dec. 15, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)