Rep. Marcia Morey
Rash of legislation, intimidation, threats of violence pressure LGBTQ allies
When the giant retail chain Target rolled out its line of LGBTQ Pride Month merchandise earlier this month, it was welcomed as a bright spot in a dark year of near unprecedented legislative assaults for the community. More than 700 bills have been filed across the country, including in North Carolina, that would restrict how […]
NC House Committee approves bill to effectively repeal state’s concealed handgun carry law
The North Carolina House Judiciary 2 Committee voted 7-4 on Tuesday to approve House Bill 189 – a bill that would make it lawful for any person 18 years or older to carry a concealed weapon in the state without a permit. The so-called “constitutional carry” legislation would repeal a system that’s been in effect […]
House committee advances bill to erase language in law describing minor offenses that lead to school suspensions
A bill stripping language from current law that provides examples of student conduct that’s not serious enough for suspension or expulsion received a favorable hearing Tuesday before the House Standing Committee on Education – K-12. House Bill 188 removes from state law the use of inappropriate or disrespectful language, noncompliance with a staff directive, dress […]
North Carolina to be represented on national life-without-parole webinar
The Sentencing Project will host a webinar next Tuesday titled “Life Without Parole in the Era of Mass Incarceration” — and North Carolina will feature prominently in the discussion. Among the panelists are Anthony Willis, who served 26 years of a life-without-parole sentence before Gov. Roy Cooper commuted his sentence last year, and Rep. Marcia […]
After the GOP proposes ‘commonsense gun reform,’ Dems float their own ideas
The bills are broadly aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of people deemed a risk to themselves or others. After he found out his fiancée had been shot and killed while walking her dog, a grief-stricken Rob Steele took his gun out of his safe. He unloaded the magazine, put the ammunition back in the metal box, then handed his firearm to a doctor.
Modest national progress on gun safety likely to have little impact in NC
For decades, American politicians have had a disturbing tendency to make big promises about tackling gun violence in the aftermath of horrific mass shootings and then, as the weeks go by, the headlines wane, and gun lobby bullying increases, lose interest. You know the mantra: “We’ll keep studying the matter,” they say. And tragically, the […]
Raleigh “March For Our Lives” demonstrators demand action from lawmakers in combating gun violence
Hundreds turn out as part of a national day of action in response to recent mass shootings On Saturday June 11, hundreds of activists with the group March for Our Lives in North Carolina gathered in Raleigh at one of more than 450 demonstrations that took place across the country to protest gun violence and mass shootings. The protests were held in response to the recent mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and Tops Grocery Store in Buffalo, New York.
Will NC get swept up in the national rising tide of anti-LGBTQ legislation?
At Tuesday night’s Wake County Republican Party convention, John Amanchukwu, a youth pastor with Raleigh’s Upper Room Church of God in Christ, gave the opening prayer. “There is a war in our public schools,” Amanchukwu said. “Our children are being turned out at an alarming rate. Our public education system is in shambles and our children have now become expendable....
Ambitious criminal justice reform agenda spurred by George Floyd murder makes little headway in NC
The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May of 2020 and the demonstrations that ensued in scores of communities helped spur efforts across the nation during the months that followed to reassess systems of policing and criminal justice. North Carolina State Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg, says the Floyd murder illustrated an injustice in policing that is both “frightening” to a lot of people in the country and badly in need of attention...
NC House Democrats to file petitions to discuss gun control bills that stalled
At a press conference Thursday, four North Carolina House Democrats announced their plans to file petitions to discharge, or to directly bring two bills onto the House floor, for discussion next week. The two bills would introduce a system to temporarily restrict access to firearms and to require a purchase permit for long guns. They […]
NC House votes to repeal state pistol purchase permit system
Proponents say federal background checks will suffice, but critics fear that a loophole for private sales will lead to a spike in murders and suicides The North Carolina state House of Representatives okayed a bill (HB 398) that would do away with the state’s pistol purchase permit system. The proposal would repeal current statutory provisions […]