As many of you already know, Rev. William Barber and the state NAACP are organizing weekly protests at the General Assembly, voicing opposition to the direction our state is being taken during this legislative session (that direction being backwards). These protests include, for those who choose to take part, nonviolent civil disobedience and arrest. In the last three weeks, nearly a hundred people have been arrested. The call has also been for supporters, people [...]
Continue reading Moral Mondays – Clergy Issued Special Invitation for May 20
With the passage of deadlines for the introduction of most bills, there’s been a flurry of new legislation. This issue of Raleigh Report will cover some of these new bills, with others to come in the next issue. [...]
Continue reading Deadlines Pass – Raleigh Report April 22, 2013
We are grateful to all who attended the 2013 Legislative Seminar. It was a wonderful day, graciously hosted by St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Raleigh. From the powerful and prophetic speakers to the opportunity for 200 faithful advocates for social justice to be together, we appreciate your participation.
Over the next several weeks, we will be posting podcasts, videos, pictures and resources from the Legislative Seminar as many of you who took part [...]
Continue reading 2013 Legislative Seminar
A misguided push in the General Assembly to get capital punishment back on track is generating a well-deserved pushback. People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, a group that for years has helped focus the case against executions, is bringing religious leaders to the Legislative Building as the debate again heats up. PFADP got its start as a program of the Council; we strongly support its stance and encourage legislators to listen with open minds [...]
Continue reading Execution Foes at Legislature
The National Council of Churches, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and others are sponsoring an Interfaith Call-in Day to ensure that the voices of faithful Americans are heard throughout the halls of Congress on April 9. You can call NC Senators Hagan and Burr at 1-888-897-0174 and urge them to act to prevent gun violence.
As the President of the Christian Conference of Connecticut wrote following the passage of historic legislation there last week, “It was [...]
Continue reading Interfaith Call-in Day to Prevent Gun Violence April 9
Next week, the United States Senate is expected to take up legislation intended to curb gun violence. Given recent mass atrocities at the hands of gunmen along with the daily loss of life by those who turn to guns as a surrogate for civil disagreement, progress on the issue should be inevitable. But it’s not.
Lobbying by groups like the NRA has been relentless and some politicians are wavering, either out of genuine conviction or fears about reelection. Faiths [...]
Continue reading U.S. Senate Expected to Take Up Gun Legislation
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Attacks on Struggling North Carolinians Advance Medicaid Coverage Unemployment Insurance Earned Income Tax Credit Fracking Moratorium Gun Violence Raise the Age Refusing to Extend Medicaid Coverage
SB 4, which would deny Medicaid coverage to more than a half million North Carolinians under the Affordable Care Act and also would put the state under a federal Health Benefits Exchange, has passed both [...]
Continue reading Raleigh Report – February 25, 2013
If you are interested in attending, but have not pre-registered, you may call our office at 919-828-6501 on Tuesday, April 9 until 5:00 p.m.
Gene Nichol, Director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the UNC-CH School of Law will be the lunch speaker at this year’s Legislative Seminar.The day’s topic for Nichol, who is also the school’s Boyd Tinsley Distinguished Professor, is “It’s Better Not to Be Poor in NC.”
The seminar takes [...]
Continue reading Program and Registration for 2013 Legislative Seminar
Gun violence has long been an issue of concern for the North Carolina Council of Churches. Every injury endured and life lost, whether on a downtown street corner or in a suburban classroom, runs directly counter to message of the Prince of Peace. As Council leaders said in their 1998 policy statement on Children and Gun Violence, “The spirit of Christ is sharply opposed to the spirit of violence and the instruments of violence.”
People of [...]
Continue reading Interfaith Call-In Day to Prevent Gun Violence Feb. 4
For the first time in the modern era, no one was sentenced to death in North Carolina during 2012. The milestone marks a victory for people throughout the state and for the organization People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, which began as a program of the North Carolina Council of Churches.
As PFADP, which is led by Executive Director Steve Dear, noted on its website:
North Carolina is well into its seventh year without [...]
Continue reading 2012 A Victory for NC and for PFADP
Did you know that the detention of immigrants is big business? Over the last several years we’ve witnessed the disturbing trend of private, for-profit prison corporations benefitting from new anti-immigrant laws. These prisons operate like hotels, where each and every bed that is filled provides profits for the company. Every empty bed, on the other hand, costs money. These companies have a financial incentive to detain as many immigrants as possible, and they have poured millions of dollars into lobbying efforts ensuring maximum profits. [...]
Continue reading Immigrants are Big Business for Private Prison Companies
The General Assembly on Monday overrode Governor Perdue’s vetoes of three bills. By doing so they gutted the Racial Justice Act, revised the budget for 2012-13, and moved ahead with fracking. The outcome was not in doubt in the Senate. In fact, several Senate Democrats had excused absences and didn’t even show up for the votes. The drama was in the House. [...]
Continue reading A Bad Day for Veto Overrides
The News & Observer
Death penalty opponents and advocates of the state’s Racial Justice Act have embarked on an intense petition drive, letter-writing and email campaign, targeting five Democrats in the state House of Representatives. The goal is to persuade the representatives to sustain the governor’s Thursday veto of the legislature’s overhaul of the Racial Justice Act. [...]
Continue reading Racial Justice Act Supporters Push to Sustain Veto of New Bill
We applaud Governor Beverly Perdue for her veto of a rewritten Racial Justice Act that had been gutted of key provisions. The Council has long worked for fairness in our criminal justice system and the RJA currently in effect is a much-needed step in that direction. Racial bias has no place in our judicial system, especially in matters of life and death.
Our work is not done, however, as a vote to override the Governor’s [...]
Continue reading Help Sustain the Governor’s Veto of the Gutted Racial Justice Act
The following is from the NC Coalition for a Moratorium and the Carolina Justice Policy Center. The fate of the Racial Justice Act probably rests with the three representatives listed below. The Governor’s veto could come at any time and the override vote could happen shortly thereafter, so please don’t delay in making these contacts, and make the contacts even if you are not a constituent of any of the three:
Five of the Democrats [...]
Continue reading Help Needed to Fight Repeal of the Racial Justice Act
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