As I’ve said before, the North Carolina Republicans embraced Trumpism before there was Trump. They’ve taken a populist, authoritarian approach to governing, playing to an angry base while limiting the checks and balances designed to give our government accountability. The latest example in North Carolina is their attempt to rig the judicial system.
Republicans have been hostile toward the judicial system since they took power. They passed a series of unconstitutional laws that the courts overturned. Instead of accepting the rulings, they attacked the judges and judiciary as biased and power hungry. That’s a bit rich considering the people making the accusations tried to redraw local districts to give themselves partisan advantage and restrict access to the voting booth for people who aren’t likely to vote Republican.
The courts have been the last refuge of democracy, so the Republicans are trying to remove them as an obstacle to their authoritarian overreach. They’ve drawn districts that would double bunk African-American judges and give Republicans clear advantages in Superior and District Court races. They’re trying to prevent primaries in Appellate Court races to protect Republican incumbents. Ironically, they’re scared they’re of their own base because a primary might nominate unelectable general election candidates.
The goal of the Senate is to strip citizens’ rights to vote for judges at all. They would move to a system of legislative appointments. Republican know that the state is probably trending Democratic over the next decade or so but they believe they can protect their majorities by rigging the system. Controlling the courts to limit checks and balances is clearly part of that strategy.
Extreme gerrymandering is the most obvious example of limiting democracy. The most closely divided state in the nation has virtually no truly competitive Congressional districts and veto-proof majorities in both legislative chambers. With so much control, only independent courts can really rein in political overreach. Eliminating them as a check on power is both disturbing and anti-democratic.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Both Thomas’ article and Jay’s comment are correct in pointing to the courts and the press as our last bulwark against efforts to destroy our democracy. In that context, Trump’s appointments to the lower courts and McConnell’s refusing to allow Pres. Obama’s last opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court Justice have left us with a longer term problem that may hit sooner than we think. Gorsuch is now on the Supreme Court, and I believe he is highly unlikely to support lower court decisions that reject partisan or racist gerrymandering, or vote to protect the right to vote, but will most likely support decisions that protect corporate needs over the rights of ordinary workers. As for press protections, I think the current Supreme Court is an unlikely ally. I hope I am wrong.
It has been heartening in recent years, particularly since the inauguration of the wanna-be dictator last January, to see the resilience of our democratic republic when challenged by two branches of government straining turn the United States into an autocracy.
The fascist proclivities of the Republican right have been on display for many years, and they have grown increasingly bolder with their election of their “strong man.” Attacks on the media, attacks on minorities, attempts to elicit pledges of personal allegiance to the leader, the open scapegoating of people of color, the undermining of any protections from the depredations of giant corporate power, the diminution of the role of ethics in public affairs and, most importantly, merging corporate interests and big government power all foreshadow a future in which the few grab all political and economic power and the voice of the people is silenced – or criminalised.
The wisdom of the Founders has become evident in this time as we have seen the Legislature become a subsidiary of billionaires and their financial and regulatory interests, and we have seen an incipient fascist take over the Administrative branch.
Democratic institutions have not crumbled here in North Carolina or in the United States because the role of the third branch of American government has become central to the preservation of our form of government. Fascists in Raleigh and in Washington have found the courts inconvenient because they have enforced the law.
The role of the fourth estate has become vital in the recent past, as the Congressional investigations have succumbed to partisan interests and have shown themselves to be spineless and willing to move toward a more authoritarian state. The press has been under constant pressure from the fascists in Washington. Fox News has become the voice of the corporate state. They spread propaganda to the ill-informed, and they are good at it.
The courts are under attack in North Carolina because they have struck down unconstitutional laws, racist laws and attempts to overthrow the popular vote. The Republicans in Raleigh hate that. The Donald hates that.
The courts are our last chance, for now, and the only branch of the three in a position to keep our democratic republic intact.