The ChronkH
Volume41,Number27 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, March 19,2015
C6tmty PubBe Library
North Carolina Room * STATE CHAMPIONS
660 W Fifth St.
"I I n I nil mil _
Winston-Salem ^3 Riverside
PreP Martin I
Photo by Craig T. Greenlee
Winners celebrate sweet victory
Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy's girls' team celebrates its first state title in Class 1-A basketball on
Saturday, March 14 in Chapel Hill. See story on page Bl.
Judge Burke assumes new position
BY CHANEL DAVIS~" ^\
THE CHRONICLE
The Honorable Logan Todd
Burke has a new position downtown.
The judge is adjusting to his new
role as the 21st Judicial District of the
Fifth Division senior resident superi
or court judge for Forsyth County.
"The job comes with more admin
istrative responsibilities," Burke said.
He is managing a staff of four that
consists of trial court clerks and trial
court coordinators.
"It's been good service to the state
of North Carolina and immediately to
the counties that 1 serve," he said.
Superior Court judges are attor
neys who are elected for each district
in non-partisan elections for eight
year terms. Burke was re-elected in
2012.
Regular Superior Court judges
must reside in the district in which
they are elected, but rotate from one
district to another within their divi
sion.
The senior resident superior court
judge has the most seniority of the
superior court judges in the district
and is responsible for carrying out
various administrative duties, such as
approving personnel hirings.
He has jurisdiction in both civil
and criminal cases.
Burke also holds court in
Guilford, Stokes, Surry, Rockingham,
Wilkes, Yadkin, Ashe, Alleghany,
Randolph and Montgomery counties.
Even with all the work Burke puts
in at his new job, he couldn't imagine
it any other way.
"It's been a pleasant experience.
See Judge on A6
The Honorable Logan Todd Burke
Advocates
bracing for
decision
Supreme Court to rule
on Fair Housing Act
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
After striking down a key provision of the Voting
Rights Act in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing
to weigh in on another key piece of
Civil Rights legislation, the 1968
Fair Housing Act. j
The Supreme Court heard argu
ments in Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs v.
The Inclusive Communities Project
in January and is expected to rule
on it this summer. The case
involves a key provision of the Fair
Housing Act that states even if
there is no intentional racism, that
housing practices cannot have "dis
parate impact" against a particular race, color, gender, reli
gion, national origin, or people with disabilities.
Both local and state organizations that deal with Fair
Housing cases are waiting to see what the court does,
since many of their cases involve more subtle forms of
discrimination. /
/ See Housing on A6
Moye
Commissioners renew commitment to prayer before meetings
BY CHANEL DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners is moving to resume
prayer before its board meetings.
The Board voted to adopt an updated
policy regarding opening invocations
before the board meetings, after an injunc
tion to prohibit the sectarian prayer before
meetings was thrown out in 2014.
The vote was unanimous, with the
motion to approve the updated policy
made by Commissioner Gloria
Whisenhunt and seconded by
Commissioner Ted Kaplin. The seven
member Board of Commissioners holds
two business meet
ings each month, on
the second and
fourth Mondays.
The meetings are
held in the County
Commissioners
Meeting Room on
the fifth floor of the
Forsyth County
Government
Center, 201 N.
Chestnut St. in
downtown Winston-Salem.
The updated policy states that the invo
cation will not be recognized as an agenda
item, is not considered part of the public
business and is not mandatory. The invoca
tions will be done voluntarily by speakers
who have responded to public notices that
invite those who want to speak at the meet
ings to contact the clerk to the board.
"We are going to go ahead and place
those ads and start scheduling as early as
late March or April," said County
Manager J. Dudley Watts Jr. "We'll do that
every year and just keep a rotation going
like we did before the lawsuit."
An ad is in this week's Chronicle.
Forsyth County previously invited
clergy before commissioners meetings. In
2007, the county was sued. The lawsuit,
Joyner v. Forsyth County, was filed by the
local branches of the American Cilvil
Liberties Union and Americans United for
Separation of Church and State in theTT^.
District Court for the Middle District of
See Meetings on A7
Watts
Witherspoon
Beaty
If
fi a _
g j| ?
To record law enforcement or not: Is it wrong?
BY CHANEL DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE
In these days, in
which everything is
digital, it should be no
surprise that a person's
first instinct when wit
nessing something is to
record it.
In these days, in
which many in urban
communities distrust
the police because of
recent incidents in New
York, Los Angeles and
Ferguson, Missouri, the
need to record it all is
enhanced.
Those videos have
become more of a
checks and balances for
many Jaw enforcement
officers.
"For many people.
their first viewing of a
citizen recording, not a
recording by a photog
rapher or news
reporter, was the
Rodney King beating
in 1991. This was pow
erful and the recording
had an impact on pub
lic opinion and the tri
als," said Kimya N.
Dennis, assistant pro
fessor in the depart
ment of Sociology and
Criminal Studies at
Salem College. "Yes,
citizens have the legal
right to record law
enforcement as long as
it does not interfere
with law enforcement's
job or cause a distrac
tion. This ongoing
debate across the coun
try over the years has
been driven by overall
distrust of law enforce
ment and the push for
citizens to be proactive
in holding law enforce
ment accountable."
Kami Chavis
Simmons, professor of
law and director of the
See Sunshine on A7
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