http://nnpa.org/civil-rights-groups-rally-voters-for-nov-4-elections-by-freddie-allen/
http://nnpa.org/stop-and-diss/
[REQUESTED REPOST]
CONCERN ABOUT “TRIAL
BY
JURY” ON ELECTION
BALLOT
By Cash Michaels
Editor
A ballot referendum for a NC Constitutional
Amendment in the upcoming Nov. 4th general election is troubling
many defendant’s rights advocates who are urging the public to vote against it.
On the back
of the ballot, the statewide referendum states, “Constitutional amendment
providing that a person accused of any criminal offense for which the State is
not seeking a sentence of death in Superior court may, in writing or on the
record in court, and with the consent of the trial judge, waive the person’s
right to a trial by jury.”
The voter
then casts a ballot “for” or “against.”
A statewide
movement is afoot to defeat this ballot referendum.
Indeed,
letters to the editor are circulating, like this one from Edda T. Lea of Raleigh,
stating that the referendum, “… is a deliberate attempt to take away our hard
fought freedom to have a jury “of our peers” determine guilt or innocence. If allowed to pass, this Constitutional
Amendment would place a consenting defendant’s fate in the hands of one judge
who would single-handedly become the only one to determine his/her guilt or
innocence. “
Passed by
the NC General Assembly last year with bipartisan support, proponents say all
the referendum does is give a defendant what he/he feels is the best chance for
a fair trial. They still have the right to a jury trial if they ultimately
choose.
Critics,
however, see a hidden danger of poor defendants being railroaded.
Article III, Sec. 2 of the
US Constitution states, “The trial of
all crimes shall be by jury and such trial shall be held in the state where the
said crimes have been committed.” The Sixth Amendment to the US Bill of Rights adds, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the
state where the said crimes shall have been committed.”
Critics say by now allowing
defendants to choose the right to have what is commonly known as a bench trial,
meaning there’s no jury, so only the judge alone will render a guilty or not
guilty verdict, that will allow prosecutors and judges to put undue pressure on
poor defendants in an effort to skip the costly process of choosing a jury, and
getting through trials faster.
“Bringing jurors in and doing jury selection and all of
the work that goes into a jury trial takes resources,” Thom Maher, director of
the state Office of Indigent Defense Services, told WUNC radio last March. “If
the system starts to push defendants to waive that to save money, and right now
they can’t, in a sense right now you’re protected from any kind of improper or
undue pressure to waive that right.”
Defendants already have the right of a bench
trial in federal court, and for non-felony cases in NC district courts, again,
defendants have the right to have a judge decide without a jury.
But
opponents believe, especially for defendants of color, that the right to a jury
trial is paramount and singular to protect their rights from a biased judge.
“What
unspeakable power to give one individual over another’s fate,” wrote Edda T.
Lee. “Recent history has proved the conviction of innocent victims can occur
without sufficient proof, even after twelve jurors study the evidence. What is
the likelihood that one person will study the case from more than one perspective?
Little to none—especially in the cases of those of us who end up with public
defenders or less diligent representation.”
Lee continued, “Minorities continue to
struggle to obtain and secure equal human rights. The current judicial system
must follow the law as it is written. We
must not allow any attempt to alter the law through an unfair amendment to
happen on our watch. We must vote
against it. By failing to do so, we will forfeit an individual’s protection and
hand his/her fate over to an individual judge who becomes, single-handedly,
“your Judge, Jury and Executioner.”
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BOX - DEMOCRATS DOMINATE EARLY VOTING
Even though
the Republican-led NC General Assembly shortened the early voting period from
17 days to just 10, ending this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the numbers of
early voters is up substantially from the last midterm election in 2010. Reports
as of Tuesday, over 386,000 North Carolinians have voted early thus far,
roughly five percent of all 6.6 million registered voters in the state. That’s
four times the number at this juncture in 2010.
Democrats are outpacing Republicans
at the early voting polls, with more than
148,000 cast, compared to just over 88,000 for Republicans.
In mail-in absentee balloting,
registered GOP voters lead, with over 38,000 to over 27,000 Democrat.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.. No voter ID is required for
this election, but you must vote in your assigned precinct.
-30-
If you didn’t
take advantage of early voting, which ends on Saturday Nov. 1st. from
8 a.m. to 1 p.m., then your last chance to cast a ballot in this all important
2014 general midterm election is Tuesday, Election Day.
YOU are NOT required to provide photo voter
identification for this election just as long as you are properly registered.
To early vote Friday, you can always go to
the One-Stop Absentee site located at the Government Center at 230 Government Center Drive, Suite
38, Wilmington, NC 28403, from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm; and Saturday, Nov
1, 8:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Other sites
include:
Main
Library 201 Chestnut Street Wilmington, NC 28401
Northeast
Library 1241 Military Cutoff Road Wilmington, NC 28405
Senior
Resource Center 2222 South College Road Wilmington, NC 28403
The hours at these sites are 10:00 am to 7:00 pm on Friday, and Saturday, Nov 1, 8:00 am
to 1:00 pm.
For Tuesday,
Nov. 4th, Election Day, polls open at 6:30 a.m., and close at 7:30
p.m.. Please remember that that no photo ID is required for this election, and
there is no straight ticket balloting by party.
If you have
any questions regarding the information provided, please contact the New
Hanover County Board of Elections at 910-798-7330.
The Journal
encourages all of our readers and community to take the time, study the
candidates, and vote your preference. The issues are too important for any of
us who are properly registered to just sit on the sideline, allowing those
outside of our community to decide our future.
OUR ENDORSEMENTS
As with
every election, based on our research, The Journal is pleased to offer our
analysis of the various candidates in selected races for you, our readers, to
consider. We offer the following for your consideration:
JONATHAN
BARFIELD – US HOUSE DISTRICT 7
ELIZABETH REDENBAUGH – NC SENATE
DISTRICT 9
ROB ZAPPLE – NHC BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS
EMMA SAUNDERS – NHC BOARD
OF EDUCATION
VOTE “NO” ON TRIAL BY JUDGE
Beyond the
candidates, there is an amendment to the North Carolina Constitution for voters
to consider which, if passed, would allow defendants in criminal cases to waive
their right to the jury trial, and select a trial by judge instead. The Journal
strongly feels that citizens should vote “NO” on this referendum. Many criminal
defendants in our court system are poor and people of color. Regardless of
their alleged crime, each one deserves their Constitutional right to have their
evidence heard by a jury of their peers from their community. To allow any one
human being to be both judge and jury in matters of felony offenses is contrary
to how our founding fathers envisioned our criminal justice system.
Vote “NO”
against this proposed Constitutional Amendment.
NON-PARTISAN RACES
When it
comes our judicial races, Democrat or Republican shouldn’t matter. A judge’s
ability to conduct an orderly legal proceeding, and make cogent, insightful
rulings from the bench, keeping his or her’s personal or political feelings out
of the process, is what citizens should look for by way of required service.
The Journal
believes, after careful study, that the following candidates of the North
Carolina bench at all levels, will, if elected, continue their fine records of
legal expertise, and commitment to justice.
We offer
them to you for your consideration:
NC Supreme Court Chief Justice--Ola M. Lewis
NC Supreme
Court Associate Justice--Sam J. Ervin IV
NC Supreme
Court Associate Justice--Robin Hudson
NC Supreme
Court Associate Justice--Cheri Beasley
NC Court of
Appeals Judge--Keishcha Lovelace
NC Court of
Appeals Judge--Lucy Inman
NC Court of
Appeals Judge--Mark Davis
NC District Court Judge District
5--Melinda Crouch
NC District
Court Judge District 5--James H. Faison III
We also
offer, again for your consideration, this candidate for Soil and Water
Conservation District Supervisor--William J. (Bill) Hart
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CASH IN THE APPLE 10-30-14
By Cash Michaels
GOOD FEELING – I can only use Wake
County as a barometer, but from what I saw during last Sunday’s “Souls to the
Polls” voting at Chavis Park Community Center, there seemed to be a dignified,
yet defiant urgency with the people I saw standing in line waiting to vote in
this 2014 general midterm election. The weather is beyond gorgeous, and people
genuinely seemed happy to see one another, and be with one another.
Candidates were there shaking
hands, introducing themselves, and asking for every vote they could get. And
through it all, there seemed to be a determined air of purpose in the wind, a
sense that this election is too important to ignore.
I hope that feeling spreads like
wildfire throughout the African-American community in the coming days as early
voting comes to an end this Saturday, Nov. 1st at 1 p.m., and then
Election Day commences on Tuesday, Nov. 4th. I hope that neighbors
who have already voted are encouraging family and friends who haven’t. Sitting
on your behind this election decides nothing. You can’t win anything, can’t
change any public policy.
And what’s fascinating about that
is here you are, sitting back, convincing yourself that voting isn’t going to
do anything for you, or change anything for you, not realizing that because you
didn’t vote before, so has already changed for you in terms of certain social
services no longer available, and if you don’t vote this time, those with the
power to change more to make your life harder will be free to do so.
And you had the chance to stop
them, and didn’t, because you just didn’t feel like voting.
What gets me is that if you are a
parent with children at home, you don’t seem to realize that your kids have
less rights today, than they had four years ago! All because 280,000
African-Americans in North Carolina who voted for Barack Obama for president in
2008, did not come back to give him the Congress he needed in 2010.
Do you see how they’re treating the
president in Congress now? He can’t get anything done because some folks there
have decided they want to stop him in his tracks, and make his tenure in office
a failure.
You’re helping them by not voting,
because by not going to the ballot box, you’re keeping them in power to
everything they can to hurt him, if not destroy him (read that sue the
president in court, or worse yet, impeach him from office).
It used to be hard to believe that
there are some people in this nation who are so hateful that they will say or
do anything to get their way, like shut down the government, for instance,
causing widespread pain. By not voting, you embolden these people, give them a
clear path to do whatever they darn well please.
And they really don’t care what you
think of them, or what they do, because as far as they’re concerned, you can’t
touch them. They believe they have enough people in their district to keep them
in power forever.
And they believe that because they
are counting on you not to vote.
See how predictable you are? Is
that really what you want to be…predictable?
And if voting is really no big
deal, because it doesn’t do anything for anybody but the very rich, then riddle
me this….why are the rich people trying so desperately hard to keep you from
voting, eh? Why is it so important to them that you be put through the mill in
order to make it more difficult to vote? Why would they even do such a thing if
your vote didn’t take something from them …like control over your life?
Think about this now…folks have
passed laws to desperately stop you from doing something you don’t want to do
anyway. Does that make sense to you? What does make sense is that fact that if
and when you do vote, there are powerful people who are afraid of that, and
wish it would never happen. Are you going to give them peace of mind, and do
exactly what they want you to do so that their interest are met?
Or are you going to peep their
game, and realize that the more you vote for the issues and candidates that are
closest to what you believe, the more power you take away from those who are trying
to stop you, and those who look like you.
This voting thing is no game, it’s
the real deal. And the only way we can hold on to many of our rights not
already lost, is to come together, and vote for those issues important to us.
It’s the only way. We need you. We
need each other.
So vote.
As we said, polls close at 7p.m.
tonite and Friday, open at 11 a.m. on Friday, and open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on
Saturday, Nov. 1st. No photo ID is needed in this election. And if
you miss early voting, then your last chance is on Tuesday, Nov. 4th,
Election Day, where you must properly vote in your assigned precinct (check
your latest registration card).
So let’s do this, and do it right!
Let’s vote this election.
Thanks.
Make sure you tune in every Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. for my talk
radio show, ''Make It Happen'' on Power 750 WAUG-AM, or online
at www.waug-network.com. And read more about my thoughts and opinions
exclusively at my blog, ‘The Cash Roc” (http://thecashroc.blogspot.com/2011/01/cash-roc-begins.html).
Cash in the Apple - honored as the
Best Column Writing of 2006 by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Columnist Cash Michaels was also honored by the NNPA for Best Feature Story
Journalist of 2009, and was the recipient of the Raleigh-Apex NAACP’s
President’s Award for Media Excellence in Sept. 2011.
Until
next week, keep a smile on your face, GOD in your heart, and The Carolinian in
your life. Bye, bye.
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CRUCIAL ELECTION - Early voting for the 2014 general midterm election ends this Saturday, Nov. 1st. from 9a.m. to 1 p.m. . Then, on Tuesday, Nov. 4th, Election Day, the polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.. Be certain to vote in your assigned voting precinct (check your voter registration card). Provisional ballots are not allowed. if you vote outside of your precinct, your vote will not count. No straight-ticket voting by party. No voter photo ID required this election. Get out and VOTE! [Cash Michaels Photo]
CRUCIAL ELECTION - Early voting for the 2014 general midterm election ends this Saturday, Nov. 1st. from 9a.m. to 1 p.m. . Then, on Tuesday, Nov. 4th, Election Day, the polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m.. Be certain to vote in your assigned voting precinct (check your voter registration card). Provisional ballots are not allowed. if you vote outside of your precinct, your vote will not count. No straight-ticket voting by party. No voter photo ID required this election. Get out and VOTE! [Cash Michaels Photo]
STATE NEWS BRIEFS
10-30-14
UNC CHEATING SCANDAL
CALLED “WORST” IN HISTORY
The shockwaves are still being
felt from the devastating report which revealed that or 18 years, athletes at
UNC – Chapel Hill were allowed to pass “paper classes” in the African and
Afro-American Studies Department by just submitting subpar work, yet being
rewarded with A’s and B’s that allowed them to stay eligible to participate in
sports. According to the report from former federal prosecutor Kenneth
Wainstein, Deborah Crowder, the student services manager, supplied the grades
thanks to virtually no oversight by her superiors, and especially her
department chairman Professor Julius Nyang’oro. The report notes that several counselors
and other administrators knew about the scheme, and repeatedly sent students to
Crowder. Crowder and Nyang’oro retired UNC years ago. Charges were dropped
against them, and they both will receive their pensions.
PAYMENTS GO OUT TO
220 NC EUGENICS VICTIMS
[GREENSBORO]
Two hundred – twenty confirmed victims of North Carolina’s infamous forced
sterilization program received their first checks of compensation this week
from the state of North Carolina. The NC General Assembly agreed to provide $10
million in restitution to whomever made application, and could prove that they
were among the hundreds whose reproductive rights were violated by county
health departments under the eugenics law that existed in the state from 1929
to the mid 1970’s. Officials say there may be over 1800 victims still living that
didn’t make application.
GREAT WEATHER STATE
FAIR ATTRACTS 930,000
[RALEIGH]
There were no serious ride accidents, no guns, and best of all, not one day of
rain. All of that and more made the 11-day 2014 NC State Fair one to remember.
This year’s fair attracted nearly 930,000 people from all across the state,
taking in the rides, crazy fried food, animals and agricultural attractions.
It’s the fifth straight year attendance has topped 900,000. In 2010, an
estimated one million visitors went through the gates.
-30-
TRIANGLE NEWS BRIEFS
10-30-14
SERA’S FUNDING TO BE
SLASHED BY 2018
The Southeast Raleigh Assembly
(SERA), a Southeast Raleigh-based nonprofit group that promotes economic
development, is slated to lose two-thirds of its city funding by 2018, if a new
proposed city budget is adopted. That means that SERA has to find ways to
replace almost $207,000 the Raleigh City Council appropriates – 79 percent of
it’s total funding annually - through other means, or shut down operations.
Published reports indicate that the African-American Cultural Festival, which
gets half of its funding from the city, is in the same boat. The city’s goal is
to provide only 25 percent of any nonprofit agency’s budget.
RADIO TALKER WARREN
BALLENTINE CONVICTED OF MORTGAGE FRAUD
Former nationally
syndicated radio talk show host Warren “Truthfighter” Ballentine was convicted
Friday in Chicago of six counts of fraud connected to an alleged $10 million
mortgage scheme. Ballentine, 43, who lived in Durham and did his show from the
studios of Foxy 107/14 FM, faces at least 30 years in prison when sentenced.
Ballentine maintains his innocence, and his attorney has appealed the verdict.
The jury took less than an hour to find him guilty in federal court.
NCCU TO ADMIT
STUDENTS WITH LESSER SAT SCORES UNDER NEW PROGRAM
NCCU, along
with Elizabeth City State University and Fayetteville State University, will
soon begin admitting students whose Scholastic Aptitude Test scores are below
standard, thanks to a new pilot program approved by the UNC Board of Governors.
No more than 100 students per campus will be admitted each fall semester.
Administrators say the program seeks to give students who have potential an
opportunity to prove themselves.
-30-
FRESH FACE - Wake County Commission candidate Jessica Holmes is regarded as a young, capable new leader who cares deeply about education, and making sure that Wake County schools are treated fairly. [Cash Michaels photo]
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FRESH FACE - Wake County Commission candidate Jessica Holmes is regarded as a young, capable new leader who cares deeply about education, and making sure that Wake County schools are treated fairly. [Cash Michaels photo]
LESS VISIBLE
CANDIDATES
WHO HOPE TO WIN
By Cash Michaels
Editor
They don’t
have the name recognition of US Senate hopefuls incumbent Democrat Kay Hagan or
Republican challenger Speaker Thom Tillis, and they certainly don’t have the
tens of millions in their respective campaign war chests. And yet, they too,
are vying for important offices during the 2014 general midterm elections, and
they’re hoping that the African-American community hears their individual
messages on why they feel they are bested suited to serve the community.
NC
Appellate Court Judge Mark Davis is not a household name, and yet in 2012, he
was key to helping his former boss, Gov. Beverly Perdue, make the
historymaking, yet controversial decision to issue pardons of innocence to the
Wilmington Ten.
Davis
served for two years as Gov. Perdue’s general counsel, her legal adviser on all
matters that came before her. In the four years that Perdue served in office,
she had received literally hundreds of petitions to pardon those who had
committed crimes and sought the state’s forgiveness.
Perdue
never granted any of those, and the one she did grant was for a man that DNA
evidence proved was innocent only after he served over a decade in prison for a
crime he didn’t commit.
So when,
thanks to the Black Press and its coalition partners, the pardon requests for
the Wilmington Ten landed on the governor’s desk, it was Davis’ job to research
it, determine the merits, and make a recommendation to Gov. Perdue as to what
to do.
Davis found
the case of ten young civil rights activists, falsely convicted in 1972 of
firebombing a grocery store in Wilmington during the height of civil and racial
unrest, compelling, and it was because he saw good reason to not only question
the guilty verdicts, but also how the prosecutor comported himself, that Davis
shared his concerns with the governor.
After much
study on her own, Perdue agreed, and issued the historic pardons on December 31st,
2012. But before she did, Perdue appointed Davis to the state Appellate Court,
where he’s been ever since hearing a wide range of cases.
Davis says
he enjoys the job, and the chance to make a difference in determining how the law
is meted out.
Keisha
Lovelace is also vying in a separate race to serve on the NC Court of Appeals.
She is currently a Deputy Commissioner on the North Carolina Industrial
Commission, where she travels the state hearing workers compensation cases.
Prior to
her tenure. Commissioner Lovelace served as an Assistant Appellate Defender,
representing criminal defendants in child abuse and parental rights cases
before the state Court of Appeals. Her legal career took off only after
Lovelace spent several years as a high school history and civics teacher. She
got her big break as a law clerk after law school for both former state
Appellate Court Judge James A. Wynn, Jr.
and Judge Robert C. Hunter.
Former Wake
Superior Court Abraham Penn Jones is also running for a seat on the North Carolina
Appellate Court. A lawyer with many years of criminal and civil law experience,
Jones has served as both a prosecutor and defense attorney. As a Superior Court
judge for 17 years, Jones has ruled on several headline cases, making sure that
all sides were heard fairly.
“Fairness, honesty, a working
knowledge of the law, and a strong work ethic are qualities that I both value
and possess,” Jones says. “It would be my honor to serve the citizens of
North Carolina once again”
NC Associate Supreme Court Justice
Cheri Beasley is the only appointment to the state’s High Court from former
Gov. Beverly Perdue – only the second African-American woman to serve - and
she’s found herself in the thick of some of North Carolina’s toughest legal
issues ever since. Justice Beasley had served in both District Court, and on
the state Appellate Court before the governor had elevated her in December
2012. She appears frequently in the community statewide, speaking at various
engagements, extolling her belief in a criminal justice system where all are
equal.
“I have been honored to serve
the people of our state on the District Court, Court of Appeals and now as an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court,” stated Justice Beasley. “As I face
election in 2014, I promise to make decisions that are fair and unbiased based
on the rule of law.”
For Chief Justice of the NC Supreme
Court, Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Ola M. Lewis has thrown her hat in
the race. She graduated Fayetteville State University with a BS in Business
Administration, and NCCU School of Law in 1990. She has served in private
practice at Thigpen and Blue law firm, as well as an assistant prosecutor, and
special Superior Court judge.
“As Chief Justice, I will continue to uphold
impartiality and sustain what is right,” Judge Lewis says. “In leading the
Supreme Court, I am willing to apply the innovative steps, experience, and
commitment to the rule of law that I have embodied throughout my career.”
[FOR
WAKE COUNTY ONLY]
In Wake County, four Democrats seek
to unseat four conservative Republican incumbents – John Burns, Matt Calabria,
Sig Hutchinson, and Jessica Holmes. All four say a change is needed in order to
better plan for growth in the county, and also to partner with the Wake County
School Board in order to ensure that teachers are paid better, and students get
all of the resources or learning they needs.
Former Wake County Sheriff's Dept. investigator Willie Rowe, who worked under former Sheriff John Baker for many years, is running to unseat Sheriff Donnie Harrison. Rowe says it's time to bring the department back to working with the community to ensure public safety.
And Marshall Harvey, a community historic preservation consultant, is running for Wake County Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor.
