VOLUME 98 - NUMBER 8
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2019
TELEPHONE 919-682-2913
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Justice Beasley Ready
To Defend Her Chief
Justice Seat In 2020
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
CashWorks Media
When Associate NC Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley officially takes over as chief Justice on
March 1st, she will remain in that role until 2020.
But make no mistake - she’s already vowed to run for election to maintain that seat, and given Beas
ley’s record of winning judicial elections, it’s a vow that any possible and probable opponents would be
wise to take seriously.
“Letme be clear ...I will indeed be seeking election in2020, and I’m excited and I’m ready to go,” she
declared during a telephone interview last week, two days after Gov. Cooper made history by appointing
her the first African-American female chief justice of the state’s highest court, succeeding the outgoing
Chief Justice Mark Martin, a Republican.
The court’s remaining Republican, Associate Justice Paul Newby, was not pleased with the governor’s
choice, saying that it should have been him because he has the longest tenure of service.
“[Gov. Cooper]... decided to place raw partisan politics over a non-partisan judiciary...,” Newby,
who is expected to challenge Beasley, a Democrat, for the seat in 2020, said in an angry statement.
“I am very comfortable with who I am as a person,” Justice Beasley said in an indirect response. “I
am comfortable with the fact that the governor has placed his confidence in me and that I’m equipped to
do this job.”
And exactly what does a chief justice of the NC Supreme Court do? The chief justice is the head of
the third branch of state government. Besides leading the court, she will determine the schedule for the
cases to be argued, and other administrative matters before the court. There is also an executive director
who assists with those day-to-day responsibilities.
Becoming chief justice is not something Justice Beasley even considered when she began serving on
District Court in Cumberland County twenty years ago. And there weren’t any black female chief justices
in other states to emulate until Georgia Chief Justice Leah Sears in 2005.
“I thought it was just such an honor to have been selected, and then elected to serve,” she recalls, not
ing when then Gov. Jim Hunt appointed her in 1999, after five years in the Public Defenders Office. Once
elected to the District Court, Beasley spent a total of ten years on that bench.
After a few years on the NC Court of Appeals, then Gov. Beverly Perdue tapped Judge Beasley to
serve out the remaining term of NC Supreme Court Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson in December
2012, becoming only the second black female jurist ever on the NC High Court. Two years later, Justice
Beasley won election to that seat.
“Justice can be served in so many ways, and the more you see it, the more you want to see it, because
you know how talented we are, and those talented ought to be recognized,” Justice Beasley says.
On the 200th anniversary of the NC Supreme Court, this is an historic year. There are three African-
Americans on North Carolina’s highest bench - more than ever in our history, more than other state in
the nation.
That happened last November when civil rights attorney Anita Earls was elected during the mid-terms.
Justice Beasley says her new colleague, who joins Justice Mike Morgan and she, has proven to be a
welcomes edition.
“Even in a very short period of time, she is a valuable member of the court,” Beasley says. “Her in
sight and professional experiences have brought a really profound perspective to the court. Justice Earls
had no prior judicial experience, but that does not limit her abilities or her keen sense of analysis of the
issues before the court. So she is ajoy to work with , a welcomed addition to the court...”
Justice Beasley continued, “The fact that this is Black History Month, it’s powerful, it’s really power
ful that we have such a diverse bench , and that we’re in a place in North Carolina where literally all of
us have been selected by the people to serve, and I think that says a whole lot about where we are, and
where we want to be. “
Judge strikes down North
Carolina voter ID OK’d by voters
By Gary D. Robertson
RALEIGH (AP) - A North
Carolina judge on Feb. 23 void
ed new state mandates requiring
photo identification to vote and
also limiting income tax rates.
He ruled the GOP-controlled leg
islature lacked authority to put
those constitutional amendments
on the ballot because lawmakers
had been elected from racially-
biased districts two years earlier.
Wake County Superior Court
Judge Bryan Collins sided with
the state NAACP, which had ar
gued that General Assembly was
“illegally constituted” because
federal judges had declared the
district maps used in the 2016
legislative elections illegal racial
gerrymanders.
The civil rights group had
challenged four amendments,
but only two of those- the voter
ID and the income tax cap - were
approved by majorities of voters
in November.
“An illegally constituted Gen
eral Assembly does not represent
the people of North Carolina
and is therefore not empowered
to pass legislation that would
amend the state’s constitution,”
Collins wrote in his order can
celling the two amendments and
the laws that put them on the bal
lot.
The NAACP lauded the deci
sion. While nearly 30 legislative
districts had been struck down
by federal courts, the legislature
ultimately redrew lines for two-
thirds of the General Assembly’s
170 districts. Democrats and
their allies were particularly in
censed over the voter ID require
ment, calling it an unnecessary
obstacle for people to vote.
“We are delighted that the
acts of the previous majority,
which came to power through
the use of racially discriminatory
maps, have been checked,” state
NAACP president Rev. T. An
thony Spearman said in a news
release.
But Republican legislative
leaders, flabbergasted by the de
cision, vowed to appeal quickly
and seek to delay the judge’s
decision. In earlier legal argu
ments last summer, lawyers for
the GOP leaders sued by the
NAACP said the edition of the
General Assembly that put the
amendments on the ballot was
a lawful governing body. They
also pointed out then that federal
judges allowed the 2016 elec
tions to proceed under the maps
at issue.
By Collins’ logic, Senate
leader Phil Berger’s office said
in a statement, all laws approved
from June 2017, when the U.S.
Supreme Court struck down
the old maps, to last December
could be voided, too.
“One man with a political axe
to grind invalidated millions of
votes and potentially dozens of
laws, including the state bud
get,” Sen. Ralph Hise, a Mitch
ell County Republican, said in
referring to Collins, a registered
Democrat.
Legislators passed a law in
December implementing the
voter ID amendment that would
require people to use one of sev
eral photo identification cards
when they vote in person. But it
also included many exceptions.
Still, critics say the law would
disproportionately harm minor
ity citizens and the poor. GOP
leaders, who contend photo ID
builds public confidence in elec
tions, decided to try to add the
voter ID mandate to the consti
tution after federal judges struck
down a wide-ranging election
law that included the require
ment and scaled back early in-
person voting.
Collins wrote the “uncon
stitutional racial gerrymander
tainted” the three-fifth majori
ties in each chamber necessary
to submit the amendments to
voters. He said that amounted
to “breaking the requisite chain
of popular sovereignty between
North Carolina citizens and their
representatives.”
The other amendment struck
down lowered the cap on state
income tax rates from 10 percent
to 7 percent. GOP supporters
portrayed the proposal as a way
to keep recent GOP laws cutting
tax rates in place after they left
office.
The case could ultimate reach
the state Supreme Court. The
seven-member body is com
posed of at least five registered
Democrats. Democratic Gov.
Roy Cooper, who opposed all
six amendments ultimately put
on the November ballot, soon
must fill a vacancy on the court.
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to Vote
JUSTICE CHERI BEASLEY
“BLACK PANTHER”
‘Black Panther’ makes Oscar
history twice for diversity
By Jonathan Landrum Jr.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -
“Black Panther” went back-
to-back into the Oscar history
books on Feb. 24, Sunday eve
ning.
Ruth E. Carter and Hannah
Beachler became the first Afri
can-Americans to win in their
respective categories. Carter
was first up as she took home
an Academy Award for costume
design, then Beachler followed
her with a win in production de
sign at the 91st annual Academy
Awards at the Dolby Theatre in
Los Angeles.
“I dreamed and prayed for
this night,” said Carter, who
was the lead costume designer
behind the Afro-futuristic ward
robes in Ryan Coogler’s “Black
Panther.” She was previously
nominated for her work on
“Amistad” and “Malcolm X.”
“This has been a longtime
coming,” said Carter as she burst
into laughter while accepting her
trophy. She dedicated the award
to her 97-year-old mother and
thanked Spike Lee, who pro
vided her career start in the 1998
film “School Daze”; the director
rose from his seat and pumped
his fist into the air in response.
Beachler broke down in tears
during her acceptance speech
with fellow production design
awardee Jay R. Hart, saying she
“stands here stronger than
she did yesterday.” She helped
create the cinematic world of
Wakanda, the fictional homeland
of the main character.
Beachler, who had worked
with Coogler on other films,
thanked him and said he “made
me a better designer, a better sto
ryteller, a better person.”
“I stand here today because
of this man who gave me a bet
ter perspective of life,” she said,
adding:-“I’m stronger because
Marvel gave me a chance.”
Beachler and Carter played
influential roles in helping
“Black Panther” become a cul
tural phenomenon. Both said
they wanted to infuse the pride
of the African diaspora into the
film.
“Marvel may have cre
ated the first black superhero.
But through costume design,
we turned him into an African
king,” said Carter, who drew
inspiration for the film’s stylish
and colorful garments from her
travels to Africa. She spoke with
people of the continent to under
stand the history of each artifact
to ensure the different character
istics were represented properly
in the film.
The costumes have become
so popular that people from dif
ferent ethnicities - young and
older - have worn Black Panther-
themed costumes to theaters and
at parties. Some even dressed in
Wakanda couture at a pre-Oscar
event.
“We wanted to bring the
world of Africa to life,” Beachler
said while backstage admitting
that she was still “freaking out”
after her victory.
“I’m still trying to get a han
dle of all of this,” she said. “All
of this is amazing.”
Carter said she hopes their
historic Oscar wins can open up
more doors for other African-
Americans who want to follow
her and Beachler’s footsteps.
“Now we won’t have to wait
for the first,” she said while
backstage. “We now have the
first. Finally the door is wide
open. I’m mentoring in hopes of
raising others up and give them
hope.”
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to Vote