Policy Reform Now: Republican North Carolina Supreme Court Takeover Impedes Democracy
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on August 12, 2023.
“It’s pretty galling that they’re even doing this considering the crisis of confidence that’s before the United States Supreme Court, and for them just to continue that pattern of rubber stamping these conservative policies is really harmful to legitimacy of the court,” said Rachel Bracken, a regional state courts manager with the Alliance for Justice, a group that encourages courts to be composed of those who reflect the people.
The decision which will infuriate and mobilize the most North Carolinians has yet to come. When the supermajority in the state’s legislature chose to override the governor’s veto of the 12-week abortion ban, they were instantly hit with lawsuits. Those will certainly go to the state’s supreme court for final review. The court will almost certainly continue its abject abdication of its duties and will rule the abortion ban constitutional in a decision devoid of any factual or legal basis.
Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade precluded the federal courts from playing any role in the protection (but, of course, not the restriction) of abortion rights, the North Carolina Supreme Court is all but certain to be the final decision maker on that case.
Once they find out what is happening, the people of North Carolina are not in favor of their new court majority.
“We even put out a video ad outlining the egregious decisions and egregious moves that [the high court] did. People were frustrated and they were shocked that this was even allowed to happen. It’s critical that we need to get this education out,” said Ms. Bracken.