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Voting Rights
The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday that they would not interfere with the settlement agreement accepted in Wake County Superior Court that allows the NC State Board of Elections to accept mailed-in ballots through November 12 as long as the ballot is postmarked by November 3. The previous deadline for ballots to be received by local boards was November 6. Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause NC, said “The extension does not change the deadline by which voters must mail back their absentee ballot – that remains Nov. 3. It simply helps make sure that voters who follow the rules and meet the Nov. 3 deadline won’t have their vote discarded due to a possible delay in mail delivery.”
Economic and Housing Policy
On Wednesday Governor Cooper issued an executive order clarifying the application of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium across the state. The order requires that landlords both inform tenants of their rights under the CDC order and provide them the opportunity to complete a declaration form before beginning an eviction action. It also specifies that the eviction moratorium applies to all North Carolinians who meet the CDC’s eligibility criteria, not just those who live in federally subsidized housing.
Criminal Justice
On Tuesday the ACLU and ACLU of North Carolina, along with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and a prominent law firm, filed a class-action lawsuit seeking access to sufficient medical care for and protection of the rights of people incarcerated in Butner federal prison. The plaintiffs cited the deaths of 27 and infections of over 1000 incarcerated people of COVID-19, along with the prison’s inadequate protection of those with pre-existing conditions and lack of appropriate distancing measures, as evidence of the government’s failures that urgently needed to be addressed.