Stein co-chairs a state panel charged with rooting out disparities in the N.C. criminal justice system.
Photo: Courtesy of Josh Stein
By Jonathan Limehouse
January 26, 2021
After the killing of George Floyd last spring by a Minneapolis police officer, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper established a task force to eliminate disparities in the state’s criminal justice system.
Cooper was not the only elected official to take executive action. As angry protests spread nationwide, including here in Charlotte, governors and mayors in a smattering of places appointed task forces to root out various forms of systemic racism.
“Communities of color are disproportionately affected throughout the criminal justice system,” Cooper declared in Executive Order No. 145, which established the task force. And people of color, he said, are more likely than White residents to “not have their murders solved; to be pulled over for a traffic violation; to be jailed and imprisoned at a higher rate
John Hood Contributing Columnist
RALEIGH Now that Democrats control the White House and both chambers of Congress (however narrowly), they will probably approve a new round of federal borrowing to bail out state and local governments with shaky finances.
In other words, Washington will punish North Carolina and other prudently governed states by saddling us with the cost of other states’ mistakes.
This is an old story. Shortly after the American Revolution, some of the newly created states made great sacrifices to pay down their war-related debts, North Carolina among them. Other states didn’t.
Then Alexander Hamilton concocted a plan for the federal government to nationalize the debts of the profligate states. That angered voters in places such as North Carolina. Many switched their allegiances, joining Thomas Jefferson’s new political faction. Party competition was born.
In other words, Washington will punish North Carolina and other prudently governed states by saddling us with the cost of other states’ mistakes.
This is an old story. Shortly after the American Revolution, some of the newly created states made great sacrifices to pay down their war-related debts, North Carolina among them. Other states didn’t.
Then Alexander Hamilton concocted a plan for the federal government to nationalize the debts of the profligate states. That angered voters in places such as North Carolina. Many switched their allegiances, joining Thomas Jefferson’s new political faction. Party competition was born.
Will this same old story have the same political effect today? I’m not sure. Voters don’t seem up-in-arms about the federal government’s irresponsible, debt-financed spending spree during the Obama and Trump administrations. And I can understand the need to prioritize combating COVID-19 and reopening the economy during the current pandemic.