Voter Registration Update: 5% Increase Since 2013

Seeing as how voter registration has been in the news a lot lately, I thought now might be a good time to conduct an updated analysis on registration trends in the state. This will be the first in a series of posts. The biggest difficulty lies in determining a starting point for the analysis. In […]
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Reaching those blue-collar workers

About 30 years ago, I had an internship with a think tank that focused on rural economic development. One project involved trying to get welders in the mountains of North Carolina to buy state-of-the-art welding equipment co-operatively and house it in a central location. They targeted welding companies in a fifty-mile radius of Waynesville and […]
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Defending the UNC Center for Civil Rights

Trying to clip the wings of the legal eagles:

Ahead of a vote this week that she says would effectively close the UNC Law School’s Center of Civil Rights, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt has sent a letter requesting the UNC Board of Governors not adopt a proposed policy change. In a July 28 letter, Folt says the move by the BOG would lead to a closure of the center and harm the school’s reputation. The five page letter is Folt’s strongest statement yet on the fate of the center.

“. . . if the committee moves forward with the new proposed policy, we risk significant damage to the reputation of the University and the Law School, as well as the uncertainty as to whether we can create a new clinic for civil rights with no resources.”

Follow the link and read Carol Folt's letter, and once again hat-tip to Kirk Ross for his diligence. This answered a question that's been in the back of my mind: "Why don't Republicans just cut off the funding for the Center if they don't like it?" It's because there is no state funding, taxpayers aren't spending a dime for this critical service. So the GOP is forced to take other measures, which will not only undermine the important work being done, it goes against the wishes of the charitable donors who have supported the Center. If you want to know the "why" behind this move, look at some of the cases litigated:

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Monday News: The Somewhat Chilly War

PUTIN TO EXPEL HUNDREDS OF US DIPLOMATS FROM RUSSIAN SOIL: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that the U.S. diplomatic missions in Moscow and elsewhere in the country will have to reduce their staffs by 755 people, signaling a dramatic escalation in the Russian response to American sanctions over the Kremlin's intervention in the 2016 presidential elections. The United States and Russia have expelled dozens of each other's diplomats before - but Sunday's statement, made by Putin in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel, indicated the single largest forced reduction in embassy staff, comparable only to the closing of the American diplomatic presence in the months following the Communist revolution in 1917.
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Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

NEW REDISTRICTING EFFORT AIMS TO REPEAT OLD MISTAKES: The iron-fisted leadership of the North Carolina General Assembly quickly snapped the last frayed thread of hope that there might be a sincere effort to develop fair and legal legislative districts. At Wednesday’s joint meeting of the legislature’s redistricting committees, among the first revelations is that taxpayers will be paying the architect of the state’s current illegal redistricting maps to create the new ones. Tom Hofeller isn’t a household name though his handiwork as nation’s top Republican redistricting map-maker, has cost the state millions defending the unconstitutional legislative and congressional districts he concocted. When asked if Democrats in the legislature will have access to Hofeller’s expertise and work – after all we’re all paying for it – House redistricting boss Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, was precise. “The short answer is no.”
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Guilford County Commission joins war against News & Record

If you don't like the reporting, kill the newspaper:

WHEREAS, in recent action, the North Carolina General Assembly has taken measures to advance communication options among local governments with the creation of HB 205 that sought to modernize the publication of legal advertisements and public notices to allow Guilford County, and any municipality in Guilford County, in lieu of printed publication, the option to post legal advertisements and notices on the county web site; and,

WHEREAS, not only does the option of electronic noticing broaden customer service and foster public participation, it also serves to provide an efficient and cost-effective means of communication all at the click of a button.

I realize many reading this do not subscribe to a daily newspaper, and get their information online instead. As such, you may be tempted to agree with this policy change, or (maybe worse) find yourself indifferent. But this is not about increasing dissemination of legal notices, it's about defunding an already struggling publication, the Greensboro News & Record. The N&R has been a strong, mostly progressive voice in the region, and has called out Republicans countless times for their inhumane and often unconstitutional actions. But aside from that "kill the paper" goal of this bill, the very premise that shifting that information online will increase the number of people who see them is faulty, for several reasons. The most obvious reason is the low traffic to the site, but here's another: In order to host all those legal notices, the government website will likely cache them in pdf files, further burying that information. That's not just my opinion:

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Saturday News: Blackout

HATTERAS AND OCRACOKE SUFFER HEAVY ECONOMIC LOSSES FROM POWER OUTAGE: A power outage that drove tourists from two North Carolina islands wiped out a significant chunk of the lucrative summer months for local businesses. It could take days or weeks to repair an underground transmission line damaged early Thursday by construction crews working on new a bridge between islands. Business owners were upset that the disaster was caused by human error, not Mother Nature. The construction company drove a steel casing into an underground transmission line, causing blackouts on Ocracoke and Hatteras islands. "It's a hard pill to swallow that someone forgot where the power cable was," said Jason Wells, owner of Jason's Restaurant on Ocracoke Island. "How do you forget where the power cable is?"
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The growing conservative media infrastructure

Back in the 1980s, right-wing radio, led by Rush Limbaugh, drove much of the political debate in the country. Inspired by the Reagan Revolution, AM stations across the country started running conservative commentators who routinely bashed liberals and their policies. Progressives tried to start their own radio network with Air America in 2004. The network […]
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Rally in Raleigh to protest inhumane immigrant detention process

Trying to survive the sticky net of ICE roundups:

Immigrant rights groups will hold a press conference and rally to demand an end to immigrant detention Raleigh, NC – On Friday, immigrant rights groups and families of people in detention will hold a press conference and rally at the Wake County Public Safety Center to demand an end to immigrant detention. The action is a part of the Southeast Immigrant Rights Network month of action to denounce the abusive and inhumane immigration detention system. With a string of recent hunger strikes inside detention and 10 deaths in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since the start of the fiscal year, immigration detention continues to be exposed as a fatally flawed system that needs to be shut down.

Consider this: If one of your children or another family member was incarcerated, and not given a bail hearing or any other avenue to seek freedom or even information about their legal situation, and were kept behind bars for months with no idea when they might be released, you would understandably be outraged and banging down the institutional doors to straighten that out. There are literally thousands of families going through that right now, but their immigration status makes them vulnerable to what we would call unconstitutional treatment. How can that be? How can we have rights for some but not others? I would argue a Constitution that doesn't cover everybody actually covers nobody. Habits are hard to break, and it's only a matter of time before US citizens are also detained indefinitely. Here are the details of the rally:

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Friday News: Turtle tries fancy footwork, loses race

Friday fracking video

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Mark Meadows: Making government less accountable

If you don't like the data, get rid of the analysts:

On Monday—the same day the president attacked political rivals in a speech to Boy Scouts and the U.S. Senate prepared to vote on a health care bill that no one had actually seen—Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus and representative of North Carolina's Eleventh Congressional District, proposed his own means of undermining democratic norms.

His big idea: gut the Congressional Budget Office, the agency that has consistently projected that GOP efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare would leave more than twenty million Americans without coverage. In an amendment introduced Monday, Meadows proposed slashing eighty-nine positions from the agency's Budget Analysis Division, a $15 million cut that would effectively abolish the division.

While it may be doubtful this amendment will have any legs, his real motive for it may be even more ominous than the amendment itself: It sends a chilling message to those analysts that their future data and reports need to be more supportive of the majority's policies, or else. These bullying tactics are rooted in the Tea Party movement itself, which relies on fear of retribution to get its way, instead of scholarly debate, which it simply isn't qualified to engage in. And probably more than anyone else, Mark Meadows has capitalized on that formula, vaulting himself into a position of leadership of a caucus he created for that sole purpose. North Carolina in general, and the 11th District in particular, owes an apology to the rest of the nation for sending this petty tyrant to DC.

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Thursday News: The usual suspects

“Squirrel!”

In the midst of a debate that is tearing the Republican Party apart, Donald Trump this morning yelled the equivalent of “Squirrel!” And like the dogs in the movie “Up!” progressive twitter quickly turned its attention away from health care to the latest presidential outrage. Today’s diversion is Trump’s announcement that he wants to ban […]
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Coal Ash Wednesday: Insurance companies say "Nope" on paying for cleanup

One big reason Duke Energy is trying to make us pay:

Dozens of insurance companies say they’re not obligated to help pay for Duke Energy Corp.’s multi-billion dollar coal ash cleanup because the nation’s largest electric company long knew about but did nothing to reduce the threat of potentially toxic pollutants.

The claim is in a filing by lawyers for nearly 30 international and domestic insurance companies that were sued by Duke Energy in March to force them to cover part of the utility’s coal ash cleanup costs in the Carolinas.

In a perfect world, the NC Utilities Commission would be keeping a close eye on this civil case, and if the defendants prove their case that Duke Energy was at fault and should be responsible for shouldering the costs of cleaning up their coal ash, the NCUC would deny Duke's rate increase request on the same grounds. And if Duke Energy won against the insurance companies and they were forced to pay, then there would be no need to jack up our rates. But we don't live in that perfect world, and Duke Energy is notorious for being able to conceal the big picture when they want something. Here's more:

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Wednesday News: Turncoats

BURR AND TILLIS VOTE TO MOVE FORWARD ON DAMAGING HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION: Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted to proceed with debate on Republicans’ efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday, keeping alive their party’s attempt to keep a long-standing campaign promise. Republicans needed ailing Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who recently was diagnosed with brain cancer, to return to Washington to get to 50 votes, allowing Vice President Mike Pence to cast the tie-breaking vote to move forward with debate. Two Republicans – Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski – voted against the motion to proceed as did all 48 senators who caucus with Democrats.
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The ads write themselves

The ads are just too easy. At a time when violent crime is increasing for the first time in decades, the Republicans in the legislature cut funding for the state’s top law enforcement agency by $10 million. In other words, the GOP made us less safe. It’s a straightforward message supported by groups who try […]
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Tuesday News: Getting out while the getting's good

CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER QUITS UNDER TREASURER DALE FOLWELL: Kevin SigRist, the chief investment officer for the $94 billion state pension fund the past four years, has unexpectedly resigned. Folwell has cut fees paid to outside money managers by more than $60 million on an annualized basis, easily exceeding his campaign promise to slash fees by $100 million during the course of his four-year term. In conjunction with that cost-cutting, Folwell has shifted billions of dollars previously invested in stocks into investment-grade bonds and cash – for example, investing in things such as short-term U.S. Treasury bills. At times, according to internal memos reviewed by The News & Observer, Folwell has overruled the recommendations of the pension fund’s investment staff in shifting those funds out of stocks. Critics say the pension fund’s potential returns are being reduced because stocks typically outperform bonds and cash.
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Tuesday Twitter roundup

The show is about to begin, but nobody knows what it's about:

Senate to vote today on mystery health care bill - The Progressive Pulse https://t.co/rEmDG6vvh1 #ncpol #ncga #aca

— NC Policy Watch (@NCPolicyWatch) July 25, 2017

And if you want to see what it is, you'll have to buy the ticket first:

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The return of Hands Ad politics

David Lewis does not like to be criticized. Annoy him online and he’ll accuse you of scatological sympathies. Call his policies racist and he “deeply resents” it. Those who critique his Voter ID amendment will encounter the same wounded howls of umbrage. But this isn’t just a David Lewis story. It’s a Phil Berger story, […]
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Is Raleigh's Airbnb kerfuffle turning into the new "Free Market" battlefield?

A business model in dire need of government regulation:

Like many cities, Raleigh is grappling with how to regulate Airbnb and companies like it. Unlike hotels and traditional bed and breakfasts, Airbnb is unregulated in most places. In Raleigh, Airbnb hosts don't collect or pay state or local sales tax, or the local hotel occupancy tax, which in Wake County is set at 6 percent. Airbnb rentals aren't required to get a business license or special-use permit. Nor do they have to submit to health and safety inspections. Hosts don't even have to tell their neighbors that they're renting rooms, though the information is publicly available on Airbnb's website.

Personally, I have no desire to spend the night in a stranger's house, and my one experience with a bonafide B&B was a little too personal, if you catch my drift. My door got knocked on like six times, and I was barely able to keep Evil Steve from yelling, "What now, for God's sake!" But that's just me. The above article is from 2 1/2 years ago, but the "task force" empaneled to solve this problem just recently hammered out some recommendations for a proposed ordinance. Pay close attention to who is co-chairing the group:

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The stories they tell themselves

Nowhere is the GOP bubble more obvious than in the current debate over whether or not to repeal Obamacare. According the Republicans, the ACA broke a system where, as one person told me on twitter, “88% liked their healthcare before Obamacare.” Now, according to twitter folks, premiums are increasing at “an average of 40% per […]
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The very definition of bad optics

Number of deputies keeping watch on meeting room at GenX meeting in Wilmington. Most reporters being kept out. #ncpol @WNCN http://pic.twitter.com/YUDnZp85dB

— Beau Minnick (@BeauMinnick) July 24, 2017

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Monday News: Channeling Goebbels?

Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

GOVERNOR COOPER MUST MAKE SAFE WATER TOP PRIORITY: Even amid the General Assembly’s efforts to shrink and minimize the regulatory authority of state agencies, it remains a basic function of government to assure the safety of its citizens – in this case that the water they drink won’t kill them. The Cooper administration needs to remain vigilant and be sure the advisory board fulfills its mandate. Regan and Secretary Mandy Cohen, his counterpart in the Department of Health and Human Services, need to work together, openly, so citizens are assured the rules and regulations are established in an open and transparent matter. Further, the first priority is public safety not the political posture of any public officials or the financial interests of powerful companies.
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DuPont/Chemours plant still discharging GenX despite promise to cease

Saturday News: Sweet little lies

ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS DID HAVE CONVERSATION ABOUT TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR: Ambassador Sergey Kislyak's accounts of two conversations with Sessions - then a top foreign policy adviser to Republican candidate Donald Trump - were intercepted by U.S. spy agencies, which monitor the communications of senior Russian officials both in the United States and in Russia. Sessions initially failed to disclose his contacts with Kislyak and then said that the meetings were not about the Trump campaign. "I did not have communications with the Russians," Sessions said when asked whether anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign had communicated with representatives of the Russian government.
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Looking the other way

Shortly after the election in November, one GOP pundit criticized Democrats for lacking faith in the strength of the American system to survive a president like Donald Trump. He pointed to the institutions and balance of powers that protect our government and its citizens. What he neglected to realize is that those institutions are run […]
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One hour left before candidate filing in NC municipal elections closes

The clock is ticking:

Candidates seeking to file for the 2017 municipal elections will be able to file their notice of candidacy at their county board of elections starting at 12:00 noon on Friday July 7, 2017 and ending at 12:00 noon on Friday, July 21. To file, a candidate will need to submit a Notice of Candidacy to their county board of elections either by mail or in person during the filing period. In order to prevent the premature filing of the form, the Notice of Candidacy forms will be available approximately two weeks prior to the start of candidate filing. The filing form and the requisite filing fee must be received by the county board of elections before the filing period ends.

Sorry about the last-minute thing, but (for some reason) I thought filing ended at 5:00 p.m.

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Friday News: Petty partisan politics

Friday fracking video

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"Not off our coast." Governor Cooper comes out swinging against offshore drilling

No ambiguity at all in this statement:

“It’s clear that opening North Carolina’s coast to oil and gas exploration and drilling would bring unacceptable risks to our economy, our environment, and our coastal communities—and for little potential gain,” said Gov. Cooper. “As Governor, I’m here to speak out and take action against it. I can sum it up in four words: not off our coast.”

A potential oil spill could decimate North Carolina’s coastal tourism and commercial fishing industries, both major economic drivers for the region. Coastal tourism in North Carolina generates more than $3 billion annually, supporting more than 30,000 jobs.

Boom. What a difference between this man and McCrory, who actually invited Big Oil to set up shop in his own office. Which became the headquarters for the Outer Continental Shelf Governor's Association, who were hell-bent on scattering offshore oil rigs all over the Southeastern seaboard, and allowed industry reps to dominate what were supposed to be public hearings in coastal communities. Just one more reason the voters kicked McCrory to the curb.

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What leadership provides

What a difference a leader makes. Roy Cooper is leading and rebuilding the state Democratic Party and taking the fight the Republicans every day. Now, he’s announced a well-funded effort to make serious in-roads into the GOP majorities in the legislature. He’s firing up the base and garnering national attention. Democrats in North Carolina wandered […]
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Oh, Cary. Flat-Earthers to attend conference in Triangle

But if you fly here in a jet at 27,500 feet, and look out the window...*sigh* Never mind:

The Flat Earth International Conference will be Nov. 9-10 at the Embassy Suites off of Harrison Avenue. The event’s 525 tickets sold out in May, according to organizer Robbie Davidson. But he’s working with the venue to accommodate 50 to 60 more people.

Alternative theories about the planet’s shape vary within the flat-earth community. But most globe skeptics contend the earth is a disc surrounded by an ice wall, otherwise known as Antarctica, and that the sun and moon are lighted orbs that move around a dome that encloses the disc.

File this one under, "It's even crazier than you thought." A dome? With lighted orbs? I have so many questions, but probably the most nagging question is: How can these people actually have jobs that would allow them to afford going to the Embassy Suites for anything other than directions to their psychiatrist's office? Scratch that, they wouldn't be able to afford a psychiatrist, either.

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Thursday News: Nine months late

ROBERT PITTENGER ANGRY BECAUSE HIS INCOMPETENCE IS POINTED OUT: Cooper requested $929 million in aid from the federal government’s latest funding bill in April. Congress approved $8.2 billion for emergency and disaster relief as part of the $1 trillion spending deal, but HUD awarded North Carolina only $6.1 million – less than 1 percent of Cooper’s request – setting off a minor partisan squabble in what has been a largely bipartisan effort to deliver dollars for North Carolina. Cooper, a Democrat, called it “an incredible failure by the Trump administration and congressional leaders to turn their backs.” “Shame on the governor,” said Republican Rep. Robert Pittenger, whose district includes Robeson County and the majority of Cumberland and Bladen counties. “(Cooper) threw us under the bus like we weren’t doing our job.”
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Republicans lose their minds over Reverend Barber's comment about praying for Trump

Better break out the smelling salts:

Religious leaders gathered in the Oval Office laid hands on President Donald Trump to pray that God gives him guidance, wisdom and protection. On MSNBC’s “AM Joy” on Saturday morning, Barber called the prayer “theological malpractice bordering on heresy.” “It is a form of theological malpractice that borders on heresy when you can p-r-a-y for a president and others when they are p-r-e-y, preying on the most vulnerable,” Barber said. “You’re violating the most sacred principles of religion.”

Barber’s comments set the North Carolina Republican Party ablaze. In a news release on Sunday, the party said it was “shocked and outraged” over Barber’s “claim that it’s a sin to pray for President Trump.”

Barber's right. I've never seen such a level of religious hypocrisy than that which surrounds Trump. He not only violates the Ten Commandments on a daily (if not hourly) basis, he doesn't even remotely resemble what the New Testament outlines as a good Christian, let alone a leader of such. And where is the GOP's outrage when televangelists describe Trump as some sort of Prophet, divinely inspired by God? Crickets. Make no mistake, Trump's embrace of religious dogma has a lot more to do about coldly calculating the number of Christians out there than it does any sort of heart-felt beliefs:

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McCready fits his district

If Democrats are going to take back the U.S. House of Representatives, they’re going to have to win districts like NC-09. About half the voters live in Charlotte and its eastern suburbs and the other half live in the rural counties of south-central North Carolina. While registered Democrats make up a plurality of the voters, […]
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Wednesday News: Breaking Moscow rules

TRUMP HAD SECOND AND MORE CONFIDENTIAL MEETING WITH PUTIN AT G20: President Donald Trump had a second and previously undisclosed meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin while both were in Germany for the G20 meeting. The White House has confirmed that Trump and Putin spoke on July 7 at the end of a social dinner, a less formal diplomatic encounter. Trump reportedly left his seat at the table halfway through the meal and sat in an empty chair next to Putin, with Putin’s translator the only other person around. No formal readout of the encounter was distributed by the White House, where officials said the only account of the meeting in Hamburg came from Trump himself. The issues discussed have not been disclosed, but the meeting is likely to stoke concerns over Trump’s affinity for Putin.
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After dark

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Repeal, replace, repeat

Back in 2016, Republicans in Congress passed a clean repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Obama quickly vetoed the legislation and Republicans lacked the votes to overturn it. It was a cynical move. The Republicans who voted for the bill knew that it would be vetoed and that they wouldn’t have to suffer the consequences. […]
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Tuesday News: Dead in the water

WITH TWO MORE REPUBLICANS DEFECTING, MCCONNELL GIVES UP ON SENATE HEALTHCARE BILL: After Republican Sens. Mike Lee and Jerry Moran said Monday evening they would not vote to advance the GOP healthcare bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he would abandon the effort to repeal and immediately replace Obamacare. McConnell said in a statement Monday night that the two senators defections made it “apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful.” Instead, McConnell endorsed an approach supported by President Donald Trump to repeal the Affordable Care Act without immediately replacing it with different health care legislation.
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Tuesday Twitter roundup

The Resistance has a new weapon:

Politico notes Cooper quietly, but aggressively attempting to lay groundwork to "break the majority" https://t.co/qzHMI1oefw #NCGA #NCPOL http://pic.twitter.com/V2USBC6V0D

— Jonathan Kappler (@jonathankappler) July 18, 2017

It's beginning to look like this may be the only way Governor Cooper will be able to do the job he was elected to do:

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In-House Counsel's Worst Nightmare: A Subpoena In A Case To Which The Company Is Not A Party

I don't think that there is anything worse than having a client get subpoenaed in a case to which it isn't a party.  It didn't want to be drawn into someone else's problem, to have to scour its records to respond to an unanticipated and intrusive request for documents, and to have to deal with the expense of an outside lawyer to handle the mess.

The good news is that Rule 45 provides greater protection to a non-party responding to a subpoena than it does to a party responding to discovery.  Judge Conrad of the NC Business Court observed in a decision last week, Arris Group, Inc. v. CyberPower Systems (USA), Inc., 2017 NCBC 57, that “[t]he courts have an obligation to protect nonparties from burden and expense imposed without sufficient justification.”(quoting Bank of Am. Corp. v. SR Int'l Bus. Ins. Co., 2006 NCBC LEXIS 17, at *16.  Op. ¶13.

He outlined some of those protections:

• the issuing party must “take reasonable steps to avoid imposing an undue burden or expense on a person subject to the subpoena.”Id. at *11 (quoting N.C. R. Civ. P. 45(c)(1)). Op. ¶13.
• Also,“'[t]he court shall quash or modify the subpoena if' the recipient demonstrates the existence of any enumerated grounds for objection, including privilege, unreasonableness,and undue burden." Op. ¶14 (quoting N.C.R. Civ. P. 55(c)(5)).
• Furthermore, "[w]here the subpoena requests trade secrets or other confidential information, Rule 45 provides additional safeguards: the court may “quash or modify the subpoena” unless the issuing party “shows a substantial need for the testimony or material that cannot otherwise be met without undue hardship.” N.C. R. Civ. P. 45(c)(7) Op. ¶14.

Judge Conrad also relied on some federal court decisions on the difference between party and non-party status when dealing with discovery matters.  He said that: 

federal courts have also stressed the “distinction between a party and nonparty” in applying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Beinin v. Ctr. for the Study of Popular Culture, No. C 06-2298 JW (RS), 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22518, at *6 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 16, 2007).  Although parties to litigation must accept the “travails [of discovery] as a natural concomitant of modern civil litigation,” “[n]on-parties have a different set of expectations.” Papst Licensing GmbH & Co. KG v. Apple, Inc., No. 6:15-cv-1095, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51274, at *9 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 4, 2017). Accordingly, “the fact of nonparty status may be considered by the court in weighing the burdens imposed in the circumstances.” Katz v. Batavia Marine & Sporting Supplies, Inc., 984 F.2d 422, 424 (Fed. Cir. 1993); see also Intermec Techs. Corp. v. Palm, Inc., No. C09-80098 MISC WHA, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 132759, at *7 (N.D. Cal. May 15, 2009)(holding that protections apply “doubly when the respondent is a non-party”).

Op. ¶15 (emphasis added).

So how did Delta Products (the non-party recipient of the Defendant's subpoena) fare against this backdrop of accommodation to non-parties?  Delta came out pretty well, although not unscathed.

 

Here some background: the underlying lawsuit between Arris and CyberPower concerns power supplies sold by CyberPower to Arris.  The power supplies, sold by Arris in turn to Verizon, are plugged into a home's wall outlet to provide power to an optical network terminal which connverts a fiber optic signal into useable TV, internet, and phone service.  The power supplies came with a battery backup to provide power in the event of a power outage.

Arris claims that the power supplies were failing prematurely.  It attributes this to a design defect which caused the capacitors in the backups to overheat when used by Verizon.  Arris sued CyperPower in Illinois for breach of express and implied warranties.

The subpoena at issue was directed by CyberPower to Delta, a competitor of CyberPower's which had previously supplied Arris with power supplies for delivery to Verizon.

What did CyberPower request of Delta?  After the original subpoena was narrowed via discussions between counsel, CyberPower requested:

a. The agreement between ARRIS and Delta for the sale of power supplies or battery backup components.

b.All specifications for Delta’s power supplies or battery backup components.

c. All communications with ARRIS or Verizon regarding actual or anticipated operating conditions for the power supplies; testing or analysis of the temperature levels of the power supplies and any component parts; and the expected or actual operating life of the power supplies.

d. All documents relating to the determination, calculation, or analysis of the operating life of the power supplies.

Op. ¶8.

Delta objected to each of the modified requests on the grounds that they sought information that was "highly confidential, irrelevant to any claim or defense, and unduly burdensome."  Op. ¶16.

As to the request for the agreement between Arris and Delta, Judge Conrad rejected the argument that its production posed an undue burden to Delta.  He said that it was "discrete, targeted to a specific written agreement, and does not seek more voluminous or sensitive information associated with the agreement,such as communications regarding negotiations with ARRIS."  Op. ¶19.

The request for "specifications" did not fare as well.  Judge Conrad ordered Delta to produce any specifications that it had received from Verizon or Arris.  But Delta was not ordered to produce its own internal specifications.  Judge Conrad accepted Delta's argument that "technical specifications of this type are highly confidential and likely the subject of trade secret protection."  He said that these specifications were Delta's "crown jewels — essentially a blueprint of Delta’s power supplies."  Op. ¶23.  Arris would need to make "a strong showing of 'substantial need' to warrant compelling a nonparty to provide such information to a direct competitor."  Op. ¶23.  Judge Conrad chided CyberPower for not trying to obtain samples of Delta's products and testing them itself, suggesting that this showed that CyberPower could not demonstrate the necessary "substantial need" for Delta's internal specifications.

The lack of any time limit on CyberPower's subpoena requests also had a negative effect on its requests.  Delta's Sales Manager testified by affidavit that "the effort would entail reviewing “millions of communications,” requiring “hundreds of hours” and “extensive legal fees.” Judge Conrad said that "Delta, as a nonparty, should not be subject to such burdens"  Op. ¶27.

A Totally Different Subject: The Business Court's New Filing System

All of you probably know that the Business Court "upgraded" its filing system last month, which it purchased from a company called Tybera.  I don't know how that affected you, but the change has been a disaster for my blog and me.  It has brought things at blog central to a standstill.  I'm trying to work through it, but I may have to retire this blog if things don't improve.

In the meantime, if you've had difficulty dealing with the Tybera changes, let me know.  But I'm hoping that it hasn't been a problem on your end.

I'll keep you posted on my so far unsuccessful efforts.

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Thoughts from vacation

For the first time in more than four years, I didn’t post a blog for more than two weeks. I started a few but never finished them. I was traveling around Minnesota and enjoying checking out the people and scenery more than the politics in North Carolina. I do have some observations, though. I spent […]
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Monday numbers: How to put state government on life support

The sheer magnitude of irresponsibility is breathtaking:

528 million—amount in dollars of the cost of the tax cuts enacted in the two-year budget passed by the General Assembly this year (Ibid)

900 million—amount in dollars of the full cost of the tax cuts passed by the General Assembly this year when fully in place (Ibid)

3.5 billion—amount in dollars of lost revenue thanks to the combined tax changes made by the General Assembly since 2013 (Ibid)

It's rare for me to be able to summon analogies on Mondays, I usually just hunker down and wait for the coffee to do its magic. But today, I have two analogies warring for my attention, derived from recent news stories, which I believe accurately reflect Republicans' actions. The first has to do with termites eating away at the foundations of a house, year after year, until the house actually collapses from weakened timbers. If that doesn't trick your trigger, there's also the sinkhole phenomenon: Groundwater erosion which slowly washes away soil and mineral deposits, creating unseen gaping voids of missing support, which inevitably eventually collapse, dragging the house down in the process. Okay, I might need more coffee, but you get the picture. For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction, and the displacement of mass or energy in a formula alters that formula in its entirety. These tax cuts are not "rhetorical," and neither will be the results. And we will have to live with those results for years to come.

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Monday News: Toxic soup

Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

NOBODY ASKED FOR THIS WIND MORATORIUM: The fact that the only way to pass this was to hijack a consensus stakeholder bill shows just how unpopular and unnecessary this policy is in North Carolina. A wind moratorium ultimately hurts the residents of eastern North Carolina, which could lose $1 billion in investments from two to three projects currently under development. It sends a signal to businesses trying to invest in the state that regulations are unpredictable and not always grounded in fact. This moratorium threatens individual property rights and denies rural economies one of the best economic development opportunities available to them. For Brown to put the renewable energy industry, the utility and his fellow legislators in the position of a significant compromise without any discussion is disturbing.
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But his e-mails: Congressmen read Trump Jr's e-mail chain on floor of US House

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GK Butterfield blasts Donald Trump's nominee for Federal judgeship

Thomas Farr is the last person who should be donning that robe:

“I’m disappointed that President Trump nominated a lawyer who has been at the forefront of defending the North Carolina Republican legislature as it has repeatedly engaged in political gerrymandering of state legislative and congressional district boundaries and has passed regressive voting laws that had the intended effect of diluting the voting rights of minority groups,” Butterfield said.

“I urge the United States Senate to carefully scrutinize the record of Thomas Farr and determine if he can impartially serve as a judge in cases involving voting and civil rights,” Butterfield said.

This development, on top of the Republicans' sustained refusal to approve African-American judicial appointees, sends a clear message the GOP is intent upon suppressing the rights of NC's minority populations in whatever way it can. It's unconscionable and unforgivable, and it needs to be a core campaign issue in both 2018 and in Thom Tillis' re-election bid in 2020. If we don't push back harder, Republicans will continue to stifle the voices of those who are already widely ignored by the majority of NC's citizens.

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Saturday News: Politicizing education

JUDGES RULE IN FAVOR OF LAW SHIFTING POWERS TO MARK JOHNSON: The three judges sided with Superintendent Mark Johnson, ruling the board failed to provide the proof needed to strike down the General Assembly's law last December giving him more control over day-to-day operations. The law in part also let Johnson administer some education funds, oversee charter schools and hire senior-level aides. The law, approved by the GOP-controlled legislature just before Johnson — also a Republican — took office, was the latest pull in a decades-long tug of war over the balance of power between the superintendent and the board, whose voting members are appointed by the governor. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper also was about to take office when the law was approved.
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Harry Brown's blatant hypocrisy over "concern" for the military

He'll use them as an excuse to ban wind farms, but when they actually need something, Brown is out to lunch:

Legislative leaders talked often this session about the importance of protecting the state's military bases. But their final budget appears to have omitted matching funds for a $9.2 million federal grant for that purpose. Under the DOD's new "Sentinel Landscapes" initiative, the federal grant money would be used in 33 counties in eastern North Carolina to preserve farmland and wilderness around military bases and the Dare County bombing range, as well as along low-level flight training paths.

Wasn't the core of Brown's arguments about Wind Energy projects about potentially blocking flight paths? And here he has an opportunity to leverage Federal funds to do just that, reserve land along those paths so nothing would impair them, and Harry Brown couldn't care less. You won't find a better example of hypocrisy than that, and when confronted with it, Brown reverts to the tried-and-true Republican default position: Bald-faced lies:

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Friday News: Trumpcare redux

Friday fracking video

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Next NC GOP voter suppression tactic: Referendum on Voter ID

Harking back to the Amendment One debacle:

“We believe the public support for voter ID is sufficient, that clarifying it in the North Carolina Constitution as a requirement is something the people would support,” Lewis said. “So I think that to mute future court challenges, you could certainly see that.” Some experts believe a voter ID requirement passed by the people could have a firmer footing in court.

“The primary objective to try to avoid a finding of discriminatory intent by saying ‘Hey we put the thing before voters and they approved it.’ Which would put on anyone challenging the law the formidable burden of showing the people of North Carolina acted with discriminatory intent, at least if they want to act on a constitutional claim,” explained Tokaji, who said other types of legal challenges would be possible.

In reality, the "discriminatory intent" could be nothing more than a majority of voters realizing they had a valid ID right there in their wallet or purse, and casting their vote to pat themselves on the back for being prepared. Voter ID has never been about suppressing the majority, it's about suppressing that 10% or so (and roughly 25% of African Americans) that would likely vote against Republicans. Minority rights should never be put before a popular vote, especially when you're deciding voting rights. Sheesh, it ain't rocket science, it's a basic American principle.

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Builders and Puppets: GOP environmental appointees lack qualifications and have conflicts of interest

We'll start with one of Art Pope's golden boys:

Clean Water Management Trust Fund: Former Henderson County commissioner Renee Kumor was appointed by Moore to a term expiring on July 1, 2020; and Wilmington builder Robin Hackney of New Hanover County was appointed by Berger to a term expiring June 30, 2020.

Berger also named writer and commentator Troy Kickler of Wake County to fill the unexpired term of Johnny Martin. Kickler’s term runs until June 30, 2018. The Clean Water Management Trust Fund provides grants to conservation nonprofits, local governments and state agencies for the protection of surface waters.

You may remember Troy Kickler from such notable history lessons such as "What would your great-great-great-grandfather think?" and "No drinking tea at this Tea Party!" You're right, I made those up. But he is a historian and not a hydrologist or water quality specialist, although it's rumored he has a Brita water filter. This is not Troy's first hitch on the board, the GOP actually made him Chairman back in 2013, to oversee their scrambling of its mission:

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Thursday News: Save the Center

BOG COMMITTEE SCHEDULES VOTE TO BAN CENTER FOR CIVIL RIGHTS FROM LITIGATING CASES: A UNC Board of Governors committee has scheduled a special meeting Aug. 1 to consider whether to ban the UNC Center for Civil Rights from suing on behalf of its clients. Long has said that the center should not sue other government entities under the UNC name. Supporters of the privately funded center say it provides students with vital experience and serves low-income, minority clients who have nowhere else to turn. Banning legal action would effectively end the center, they say, and disrespect the legacy of the center’s founder, the famed civil rights attorney Julius Chambers.

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Tuesday News: Back off, Kobach

Tuesday Twitter roundup

Today's lesson in bad government:

NC projections show future state revenue shortfalls https://t.co/ang4v0aIvp #ncpol #ncga

— greg flynn (@gregflynn) July 11, 2017

And once again, this is not a mistake, it's by design:

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Pittenger vs. the Preacher (Round Two)

Robert Pittenger has a tough primary on his hands. Mark Harris, a socially conservative Baptist preacher, heavily involved with the marriage amendment and HB 2, plans to challenge the incumbent congressman once again for the GOP nomination. Last year, Pittenger prevailed over Harris in a three-candidate primary by 134 votes – thanks to a big […]
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Monday News: Трамп 2016

TRUMP/RUSSIA COLLUSION BECOMES MORE CLEAR WITH EVIDENCE OF ANOTHER UNDISCLOSED MEETING: Two weeks after Donald Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination last year, his eldest son arranged a meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan with a Russian lawyer who has connections to the Kremlin, according to confidential government records described to The New York Times. The previously unreported meeting was also attended by Trump’s campaign chairman at the time, Paul Manafort, as well as the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to interviews and the documents, which were outlined by people familiar with them. Representatives of Trump Jr. and Kushner confirmed the meeting after The Times approached them with information about it.
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Folwell audit targets dependents of state employees

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Two Democrats already step forward to challenge Patrick McHenry

May the wind fill their sails:

David Brown announced this week that he is running for his party's nomination for House in the 2018 primary, making him the second Democrat seeking to represent the district that stretches from West Asheville to suburbs just west of Charlotte. The Gaston County resident is a 43-year-old information technology consultant making his first bid for public office. Kenneth Queen, a Navy veteran from Rutherford County, is the other Democrat in the race so far.

They are seeking the right to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-Lincoln, who is his party's presumptive nominee. "I'm hoping for an anti-Trump wave for sure," Brown said. "Patrick's been up there for a long time and he's not done a lot for this district. Many people don't know who he is because he's that out of touch."

Better not rely too much on the Trump Revulsion Phenomena (TRP). Weasels can be hard to trap, and if you spook 'em they're liable to burrow into their safe little gerrymandered tunnels. This particular weasel defeated his last Dem opponent by a whopping 27%, if you can believe it. It will take a monumental effort to dislodge this parasite, but that effort must be made, nonetheless.

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Weekend open thread: Site under maintenance

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Stein could be the future of #NCPOL

For better or worse, politics never ends. Parties are always on the lookout for a new leader, a new hope. And Democrats have one at the Justice Department. Attorney General Stein gives every impression of being a great leader. A Chapel Hill native, he has a finely attuned sense of the state’s voters. He calibrated his campaign […]
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Two Democrats already step forward to challenge Patrick McHenry

May the wind fill their sails:

David Brown announced this week that he is running for his party's nomination for House in the 2018 primary, making him the second Democrat seeking to represent the district that stretches from West Asheville to suburbs just west of Charlotte. The Gaston County resident is a 43-year-old information technology consultant making his first bid for public office. Kenneth Queen, a Navy veteran from Rutherford County, is the other Democrat in the race so far.

They are seeking the right to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-Lincoln, who is his party's presumptive nominee. "I'm hoping for an anti-Trump wave for sure," Brown said. "Patrick's been up there for a long time and he's not done a lot for this district. Many people don't know who he is because he's that out of touch."

Better not rely too much on the Trump Revulsion Phenomena (TRP). Weasels can be hard to trap, and if you spook 'em they're liable to burrow into their safe little gerrymandered tunnels. This particular weasel defeated his last Dem opponent by a whopping 27%, if you can believe it. It will take a monumental effort to dislodge this parasite, but that effort must be made, nonetheless.

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Friday News: Josh to the rescue

ATTORNEY GENERAL STEIN JOINS LAWSUIT TO PROTECT STUDENT BORROWERS: Stein joined other attorneys general from around the country to sue U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who froze rules last month that would have forgiven the federal loan debt of students cheated by predatory for-profit colleges. The attorneys general, all Democrats, from 18 states and the District of Columbia accuse the Trump administration’s education secretary of breaking federal law and giving the questionable schools free rein by rescinding the Borrower Defense rule that was to go into effect on the first of this month. They filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in the District of Columbia.
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Friday fracking video

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NC's Conservative drama club: Playing the victim while they're actually the abusers

As usual, Rob Schofield is right on the money:

Meanwhile, the rhetoric remains decidedly angry. Whether it’s in the steady stream of invective-laced official statements and social media posts emanating from the office of Senate leader Phil Berger or the hateful attacks and personal putdowns issued almost daily by conservative think tanks, “news” websites and advocacy groups, the predominant conservative posture is, bizarrely, one of bitter victimhood.

A recent fundraising appeal sent out by the arch-conservative Civitas Institute screeched that the group was a in a desperate pitched battle to combat “the Leftist media,” (sic) “the dishonesty of the leftist press and liberal networks” and “the multi-million dollar NC media industry.”

Leave it to Art Pope's menagerie to latch onto a fact-deficient Trump meme just to reel in some dollars to help fuel their witless propaganda. And Berger has turned into (or always was) a totally predictable demagogue. He has yet to issue a press release or other formal statement that didn't also include an accusation or insult directed at the Democratic Party in general or an elected Democrat in particular, a classic form of transference exhibited by someone who knows what they're doing or have done is wrong. And I'm really glad somebody finally said this:

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Thursday News: The high costs of ignorance

TWO LARGE WIND FARM PROJECTS WILL LIKELY EXIT STATE DUE TO MORATORIUM: Two proposed wind farms will pull out of eastern North Carolina if an 18-month moratorium on wind farm permits becomes state law, company officials say. Both projects had been expected to apply for state permits as early as this year and potentially could have been generating electricity by 2019. But the moratorium means no wind farm could receive a state permit before Dec. 31, 2018. The moratorium was inserted last week into an unrelated energy bill, House Bill 589, and now awaits Gov. Roy Cooper’s signature or veto; Cooper has until July 30 to decide and is reviewing the bill, according to his office.
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Incorporating By Reference In Your NC Business Court Brief? Don't Do It!

If you have ever drafted a Complaint, you have undoubtedly used the words that your previous numbered allegations were "incorporated by reference."  It's a way of not having to repeat yourself.  That  shortcut is specifically allowed by Rule 10(c) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, which says that: "Statements in a pleading may be adopted by reference in a different part of the same pleading or in another pleading or in any motion in the action."

If you have a case where you have filed multiple briefs, you might "incorporate by reference" arguments you made in an earlier brief.  You probably haven't thought twice about that. 

Well, Judge McGuire of the NC Business Court has thought about it, and he doesn't like it.  In American Air Filter Co. v. Price, 2017 NCBC 54, he ruled that the use of incorporation by reference of earlier briefs could be a violation of the Rules of the NC Business Court and that it could result in the Court refusing to consider the referenced argument.

How could that be, you are wondering, as there is no mention (or any prohibition) of this practice in the Court's rules.  The reason is that the inclusion of the pages of a previously filed brief might push you over the page limitations contained in the Business Court Rules for briefs.  The Rules require the lawyer for a party filing a brief to limit her words to 7,500, and to "include a certificate by the attorney or party that the brief complies with this rule." BCR 7.8.

Judge McGuire said in the American Filter case that: 

The General Rules of Practice and Procedure for the North Carolina Business Court (“BCR”) do not expressly permit parties to incorporate previously-filed briefs and documents outside of the brief at issue, at least not to supplement the substantive text of the brief at issue. In fact, BCR 7.8 provides strict word limits on briefs submitted to this Court. Even if incorporation of previous briefs were allowable, it appears a party incorporating a previously-filed brief would have to certify under BCR 7.8 that the brief and the incorporated brief did not exceed the word limits. Defendants have not done so in this case. As a result, the Court declines to consider Defendants’ arguments and authorities regarding choice of law issues contained in other filings with the Court.

Op. at n.2.

 

If you think that Judge McGuire was being unreasonably harsh in excluding the arguments made in the incorporated by reference material, you are wrong.  Multiple courts have taken the same position.    See, e.g.,  Northland Ins. Co. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co., 327 F.3d 448, 44, 452-53 (6th Cir. 2003); DeSilva v. DiLeonardi, 181 F.3d 865, 866-67 (7th Cir.1999) Swanson v. United States Forest Service, 87 F.3d 339, 343 (9th Cir. 1996) ; Cray Communications, Inc. v. Novatel Computer Sys., Inc., 33 F.3d 390, 396 n. 6 (4th Cir.1994); Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 225 (5th Cir. 1993).  Some court Rules specifically prohibit this practice: for example, Eighth Circuit Rule 28A(i)("A party may not incorporate by reference the contents of a brief filed elsewhere.")

The DeSilva decision  cited above was highly critical of this practice.  It said that "adoption by reference amounts to a self-help increase in the length of the appellate brief. Even when a litigant has unused space ..., incorporation is a pointless imposition on the court's time. A brief must make all arguments accessible to the judges, rather than ask them to play archaeologist with the record."

Now, those of you who are not recovering from an overdose of hot dogs from your Fourth of July celebration yesterday will undoubtedly note that those are all appellate decisions and appellate rules and that it makes sense not to require an appellate Judge to have to go looking for something that was filed in another court and is not readily available in the brief before him.  A trial court Judge, on the other hand, has the whole history of the case before him, and that's especially so for a Business Court Judge -- something from a previous filing that is incorporated by reference is only a click away.

You might be wondering if footnote 2 is the only thing worth knowing about in the 29 page American Filter decision.  Well, I've written about the case once before.  This time, most of the decision was about whether Kentucky law or North Carolina law should apply to Plaintiff's claims.  Footnote 2 stole the show.

You are now on notice.  Don't file a brief in the Business Court incorporating pages from another brief that you filed earlier in the same case.

I would not have caught this very important point about briefing procedure in the NC Business Court if it were not for my partner Eric David bringing it to my attention.  Thank you Eric.

 

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Roberts has a strong edge in Charlotte

I don’t live in Charlotte, and I have no rooting interest in the mayoral race there. Nevertheless, it is an important statewide event. Not only is this election the marquee race of the year,  Charlotte mayors are steadily broadening their political reach. A race with those stakes merits close attention. And in my view, observers significantly underrate the advantages of […]
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Charlotte's Mayoral race heats up with mystery donors and national interest

Political race or chair-smashing cage-match?:

In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2-1, two prominent Democrats are challenging Mayor Jennifer Roberts in the primary. Mayor Pro Tem Vi Lyles and state Sen. Joel Ford have each raised a lot of money. Lyles has raised $215,000; Ford, $205,000. Republican council member Kenny Smith has raised $260,000. But candidates aren’t the only ones spending money.

At least two outside “dark money” groups that don’t have to disclose donors are getting involved. So is a super-PAC affiliated with the N.C. Association of Realtors. One of the so-called social welfare groups, Queen City Leadership, supports Ford. The other, called Forward Charlotte, is run by a former Republican operative. Democracy for America, a PAC founded by former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean, is backing Lyles.

Not even going to try to read the tea leaves on the Democratic Primary, but I do hope it doesn't get as nasty as I think it might. Whoever wins *should* have no problem in the General Election. But then there's also Pat McCrory and Richard Vinroot. It's not like Republican men have never succeeded in this effort. And this issue may also play a role:

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Wednesday News: Healthy debate

REPUBLICAN SENATORS GET AN EARFUL DURING JULY 4TH RECESS: "There was only one issue. That's unusual. It's usually a wide range of issues," Collins said in an interview after the parade. "I heard, over and over again, encouragement for my stand against the current version of the Senate and House health-care bills." Collins, whose opposition to the Better Care Reconciliation Act helped derail last week's plans for a quick vote, is being lobbied to smother it and make Congress start over. Murkowski was hearing that particular sort of praise again and again. She moved comfortably through a crowd gathered to watch children street-race and lumberjacks saw logs. "Most people don't ask, 'For or against?' " she said. "They just say, 'Make sure you're taking care of our interests.' In fairness for those that do the 'for or against,' everybody is pretty much [saying] they don't think this is good for us."
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Tuesday News: Bumbling towards war?

Tuesday Twitter roundup

A good day for taking stock:

Do our choices match our values, as a state and as a nation? A July 4 rumination - https://t.co/02FpFXqesm #ncpol #ncga #ncgov

— NC Policy Watch (@NCPolicyWatch) July 4, 2017

And figuring out how far we've strayed:

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The Partisan

Roy Cooper is not an ideologue. But he is a loyal, partisan Democrat – always has been. And today’s hyperpartisan political environment suits him like a glove. Gone are the days where politicians seek out compromise to win crossover appeal and broad support. Now, it’s all about the base. If you don’t toe the party […]
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Tarheel Founding Fathers: John Williams

In-depth primer on the contradictory nature of Oath Keepers

Jordan Green writes via Scalawag Magazine:

While Oath Keepers identifies itself as “libertarian” and “constitutionalist”—a seemingly awkward fit with Trump’s flamboyant authoritarianism—the militia network is unmistakably aligned with the new president, fielding what they call “roving security teams” at Trump’s inauguration on January 20. Since then, Oath Keepers have sent members to provide security for pro-Trump rallies in Berkeley, California that were the scene of running street battles between right-wing nationalists and the militant leftists known as Black Bloc or antifa—short for “antifascist.”

While claiming to oppose both White supremacists and their antifa opponents, Oath Keepers appeared in Pikeville, Kentucky in late April for a joint-rally of the avowedly fascist Traditionalist Workers Party and National Socialist Movement. Matthew Heimbach, the leader of the Traditionalist Workers Party, was charged with shoving a Black protester at a Trump rally in Louisville, Kentucky last July, but is now reportedly claiming that then-candidate Trump encouraged the behavior in a counter-suit against the protestor.

As with many of these extremist organizations, the Oath Keepers' stated goals are rife with inconsistencies compared to their actions, such as claiming not to be racist while stalking black neighborhoods in Ferguson and waving assault rifles around. But their true nature, and the danger that represents, was on display during the Cliven Bundy standoff where they took aim at Federal officers:

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Monday News: Executive death panel

TRUMP PUSHING FOR REPEAL ONLY ON OBAMACARE: President Donald Trump is pressuring wavering senators to back a Republican bill to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's health care law but is holding open a repeal-only option if Republicans can't reach agreement over the July 4 recess, Trump's top legislative aide says. Marc Short, the White House's legislative director, said Trump was making weekend calls and believed senators were "getting close" on passing a bill. But Short maintained that Trump continues to believe that repeal-only legislation should also be considered. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has dismissed the suggestion. McConnell says he intends to proceed with GOP legislation being negotiated during the week-long recess.
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Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

NC LEGISLATURE SETS FOUNDATION FOR 21ST CENTURY INQUISITION: It has been 147 years since a North Carolina statewide officeholder has been impeached. It is a serious matter. The attacks on Secretary of State Marshall are ill-considered, blindly partisan and little more than a thinly veiled effort to steal an election the Republicans didn’t win at the ballot box. Legislators backing this shameful exercise in partisanship-gone-wild are exhibit #1 of abuse of position, lack of respect for the privilege voters have extended and a demonstration of ignorance and disdain for the integrity of government. By this vote alone, none of those who backed the measure deserve the honor of returning to the General Assembly after the next election. Voters should express that view in no uncertain terms.
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Saturday News: A meme too far

TRUMP'S "COMMISSION" ON VOTER INTEGRITY GETS COLD SHOULDER FROM MANY STATES: A request for detailed information about every voter in the U.S. from President Donald Trump's voting commission is getting a rocky reception in the states. Some of the nation's most populous states, including California and New York, are refusing to comply. But even some conservative states that voted for Trump, such as Texas, say they can provide only partial responses based on what is legally allowed under state law. Given the mishmash of information Trump's commission will receive, it's unclear how useful it will be or what the commission will do with it. Trump established the commission to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the 2016 elections, but Democrats have blasted it as a biased panel that is merely looking for ways to suppress the vote.
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