Carolina Politics Online

The S.C. Highway Patrol is investigating several “not guilty” decisions in driving-under-the-influence cases against clients of state Sen. Brad Hutto, an Orangeburg attorney.

The S.C. Department of Public Safety’s Office of Professional Responsibility began looking into the matter at the request of Highway Patrol Troop 7 Commander Capt. C.N. Williamson, who sought the investigation after noticing that 10 DUI tickets were signed off as “not guilty.”

“This type of action by a trooper, finding driving-under-the-influence tickets not guilty without a trial, is improper; therefore I request that this matter be investigated further,” Williamson wrote in a Jan. 28 memo.

But Hutto says the situation is not unusual — the cases were all handled in court in the way they always have been.

“These cases were handled in court the way they were supposed to be,” Hutto said.

The Times and Democrat

I am not a lawyer so I don’t know how common this is, but it raised some eyebrows back at the Highway Patrol.  Hutto may be absolutely truthful in claiming there is no wrong doing here, but you have to question when all 10 of these tickets come from the same patrolman and the defendants are being represented by the same attorney who also happens to be a state legislator.

COLUMBIA — The state Senate on Tuesday devised a way to bypass stalled negotiations with the House over immigration reform.

After about an hour and a half of debate while supporters tried to gather votes on narrowing worker verification standards for private employers, the Senate adjourned.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said it was necessary to avoid a filibuster and give supporters time overnight to swing some more votes in favor of eliminating the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form in the bill.

The Post and Courier

At least it appears they are trying to move forward on this.  If they’re going to do it, do it right.  An exceedingly strict bill has been very effective in Arizona.  There is no reason why we can’t have the same result.

Former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel has received his federal prison assignment and reporting date.

Ravenel is scheduled to report to the Federal Correctional Institution at Jesup, in southeastern Georgia, by noon May 29, his attorney confirmed Wednesday.

The reporting date came as Ravenel in March asked to report to prison early, giving up on an extension that would have kept him free for an additional five months.

The Post and Courier

Chapman only vote against plan The Town of Tryon added about 400 new residents to its population Tuesday by approving the involuntary annexation of parts of Gillette Woods, Country Club Road and Harmon Field areas. Tryon Town Council held a special meeting Tuesday night to approve the annexation plan, with council member Austin Chapman being the only member to vote against the plan. The meeting lasted only about 15 minutes and took place before a crowd of about 70 people, some of who booed following the vote. “Hope ya’ll enjoy your job while you got it,” was one of the numerous statements heard from the audience once the meeting adjourned. “It won’t last long. We’ll see you in court.”

Tryon Daily Bulletin

Every member of the Tryon Town Council that voted for this needs to lose their council seats. Nothing sends a stronger message to a lawmaker than threatening their power.

FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — A Fayetteville lawmaker wants to put an end to a state law restricting sex education to teaching only abstinence in most North Carolina public schools.

Democrat Rep. Rick Glazier told a forum on sex education in Cumberland County schools Tuesday that children are needlessly exposed to cervical cancer and other diseases because some abstinence-only programs dispense inaccurate data.

The Fayetteville Observer also reports that Glazier said some of the programs teach that condoms usually fail to protect against HIV or pregnancy.

State law allows school districts to expand sex education beyond the abstinence-only approach, with public hearings.

The News-Record

I don’t know how much substance there is to Glazier’s claims.  I have never heard of abstinence only education resulting in cervical cancer.  I am also not aware of schools teaching children that condoms usually fail, however that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening in perhaps some more conservative areas of the state.  I do agree with Glazier’s overall position, however, that sex education should include birth control methods along side abstinence.  People have to be realistic here.  Teenagers are going to have sex.  You can’t stop it, so they may as well be taught the responsibility that goes with it.

Having said that, I have to problem with the current law as it now stands.  I think it should be a local decision.  If the community wants to teach it, fine.  If not, that’s fine too.  Because it is such a divisive issue, I also think that parents should have the option of restricting their children from attending those classes if they so desire.

The first-term senator from Salisbury is pushing to expand a long-dormant federal program — known as 287(g) — that allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to train local law authorities in enforcing the laws, using databases to check immigration status of arrestees and beginning deportation proceedings.

About 400,000 illegal immigrants live in North Carolina, according to a 2006 study conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, a national nonpartisan research group based in Washington. Some state authorities and officials complain they take up space in jails and are a drain on state resources.

Five counties in the state, including Charlotte’s Mecklenburg County, are participating and have identified thousands of undocumented aliens in custody.

It’s popular with North Carolina Republicans — and more than a few Democrats — but not the two leaders in the state’s May 6 primary for the Democratic ticket challenging Dole.

“This is another unfunded federal mandate,” said state Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro. “We’re not saying that we need to be the IRS agents and collect federal taxes. Why are we now being asked on a state level to be immigration officers? The federal government must provide the necessary employees to do this job.”

Dole noted the program is voluntary, adding that she has supported additional funding for federal immigration officials.

The Herald-Sun

Hagan is correct to a degree. The Feds should be handling this and not pushing the responsibility off to the states, but there is nothing wrong with allowing states to enforce this issue within their own state lines. It is a popular program in North Carolina and the reality is right now the Federal Government isn’t doing anywhere near enough to deal with the problem and based on the possible successors for Bush, it doesn’t appear that will change in the next administration.

GREENSBORO — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal said Tuesday he is the only party hopeful capable of beating Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, dismissing the candidate leading the race — Kay Hagan — as just another political insider.

Hagan, a state senator from Greensboro, has a built a wide lead in both polling and fundraising leading to the May 6 primary. She has the support of the state Democratic leadership.

But Neal said in the race’s only televised debate that he can beat Dole because he offers something different.

“We have to offer a contrast,” Neal said. “Democrats win on contrast and standing firm on values. And that’s what I’m about.”

Charlotte Observer

I don’t mean to disparage Mr. Neal here, but I think he is fooling himself if he believes that only he can beat Dole. Neal hasn’t been able to raise anything close to sufficient funds for this race. I think it’s unlikely that he’ll win Tuesday’s primary, but even if he does, how does he expect to mount a significant challenge to Elizabeth Dole without money?

RALEIGH — Pat McCrory criticized a Superior Court judge Wednesday for ruling last week that four sex offenders shouldn’t be subject to lifetime satellite monitoring.

McCrory, Charlotte’s mayor and a Republican candidate for governor, called on the state to appeal the judge’s ruling.

“Every day the Attorney General delays appealing this case, more children are in danger,” he said.

Jennifer Canada, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Roy Cooper, said Cooper believes dangerous sex offenders should be in prison, not just monitored by satellite.

Charlotte Observer

I’d take it further than Cooper. I think child sex offenses should be capitol crimes and punishable by death. These people are a danger to whatever community they are in and they cannot be trusted to not commit theses heinous acts again. We shouldn’t have to pay to eletronically monitor these people or put them in prison for the rest of their lives.

The three differed on raising the cigarette tax to pay for Medicaid.

Martin said he was fundamentally opposed to raising any taxes. “We’re not going to stamp out smoking by raising the cigarette tax,” he said. “And I’m hesitant that the money would be used correctly.”

Hyde said his friends in the medical community have talked to him about the dangers of smoking. He said raising the tax, which is now 7 cents per pack, would aid in health care and improve the economy.

Ritchie said he favors raising the tax, but not to fund Medicaid and “grow government.” He said he would prefer to put the money into the private sector to make health insurance more affordable and “stop that cost shifting from the uninsured to those of you who have health care premiums already.”

The Herald-Journal

Martin was the only one with the correct answer.  Opposition to any further taxes is the only acceptable position here, although I don’t have a problem with raising the cigarette tax if a corresponding cut in the income tax goes with it.  Of course the extra tax money won’t be used correctly.  When do government bureaucrats ever manage money responsibly?  Didn’t we hear this same song and dance from the tobacco lawsuits in the 1990’s?  Where did all that money go that was supposed to be used to treat smokers’ illnesses?  It went straight in the general budgets of the states and was wasted away.

I’d also be interested in hearing Hyde’s reasoning as to how raising taxes improves the economy.

For Haskins, her first test since winning her late husband’s seat in 2000, is shaping up as a tough one. With no Democrat having filed in the strongly Republican district, the primary probably will determine which one will hold the seat for the next two years.

Nanney is building her campaign around a tough stance on immigration, something she says Haskins has failed to do, and has raised questions about Haskins’ attentiveness to her legislative duties.

“She hasn’t gone far enough on immigration and her constituent service is probably a major (element) that is lacking. She’s not real responsive to the constituents. She’s not available to them. That’s been a major frustration with a lot of people,” Nanney said.

Haskins rejects the assertions, citing her co-sponsorship of the House GOP’s main immigration bill, support for denying GED diplomas to those who don’t take the test in English and opposing driving privileges for illegals.

Nanney criticized Haskins for missing a committee meeting on her own immigration bill. “I know that she was not in attendance. She needs to be there, dealing with it.”

The Greenville News

RALEIGH, N.C. — Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory raised nearly $1.2 million during the first 3 1/2 months of the year, far outpacing the three other leading Republican candidates for governor.

McCrory and the others were required to file their first-quarter campaign finance reports by Monday night with the State Board of Elections.

Sen. Fred Smith of Clayton reported $885,000 in contributions, although $500,000 came from personal loans made to his campaign.

Salisbury attorney Bill Graham said nearly all of the $370,000 he raised was borrowed money.

Former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr said he raised $77,000.

The State

I stand by what I’ve said in the past. McCrory is the only viable challenger to either Moore or Perdue. These numbers are proving it.

The South Carolina Club for Growth has endorsed a third batch of candidates, many of whom are challenging incumbents in Republican primaries.

The group has chosen Tom Davis, former chief of staff for Gov. Mark Sanford, over incumbent Catherine Ceips for a Beaufort County Senate seat, engineer Roger Nutt over incumbent Keith Kelly in a Spartanburg House race and Trey Whitehurst for the Pickens County House seat held by B.R. Skelton.

All three of those incumbents, the group said, scored an “F” on the group’s annual legislative report card in 2007.

The State

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A license plate with an image of a cross in front of a stained glass window with the words “I Believe” could be available to drivers in South Carolina under a bill that has won key approval in the Senate.

The Senate gave the bill second reading on Tuesday and agreed to give the proposal automatic final approval Wednesday and send it to the House.

The State

Uh-oh.  My spidey sense tells me there is an ACLU outburst coming.

Sen. Barack Obama coolly denounced the Rev. Jeremiah Wright for his “appalling” words and for his personal and political betrayal Tuesday, a day after Wright seized center stage in the race for the White House and six weeks after Obama said he could no more “disown” his former pastor than he could his own grandmother.

Obama’s remarks were a second attempt to end perhaps the most damaging chapter of his political career — and strategists raised significant doubts about whether even Obama’s blistering words could immediately quell the crisis Wright has created for the Illinois senator’s campaign.

“When I say I find these comments appalling, I mean it. It contradicts everything that I am about and who I am, and anybody who has worked with me, who knows my life, who has read my books, who has seen what this campaign’s about, I think, will understand that it is completely opposed to what I stand for and where I want to take this country,” Obama said in a press conference called after a rally in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he was campaigning Tuesday.

The Politico

Sorry, but I’m not buying it.  If Obama was truly appalled at the words of Jeremiah Wright he would not have attended his church for 20 years and exposed his family to that type of hateful environment.  Obama is simply in CYA mode now because he knows this guy will drag him down.

State Sen. Larry Shaw will face off with a familiar opponent in his bid for re-election.

Since 1996, Shaw has trounced Eronomy “Mohammed” Smith in five elections. The two Democrats from Fayetteville will be on the May 6 primary ballot for District 21. The winner will face no opposition in the fall.

In the 2006 primary, Smith garnered 2percent of the vote in a three-way race, which Shaw won. Smith finish third with 3.4 percent of votes in the 2004 primary.

Smith has made numerous false claims in news releases, at public meetings and during interviews with the media. He inaccurately claims he initiated the base-realignment process under way at Fort Bragg, led revitalization efforts in downtown Fayetteville and founded Masjid Omar Ibn Sayyid, a mosque on Murchison Road.

When a reporter asked him why he makes untrue claims, Smith stood by the statements, adding, “It’s all in the record.”

The Fayetteville Observer

This guy is nuttier than a peanut farm, clearly delusional and a professional fraud. One thing about politics, it brings all kinds out of the woodwork.

The Voice Online, a Fayetteville State University publication, just recently did an article on “Minister” Smith.

Five-term incumbent N.C. Rep. Jim Gulley will square off against two challengers in the May 6 primary.

Mint Hill residents Edith “Edy” Brotherton and Larry Hale, both Republicans, want to unseat Matthews resident Gulley as the state representative for District 103.

No Democrats have filed for the office; the primary will decide the winner. Though Gulley has experience in the House, his challengers aren’t strangers to the campaign trail.

Brotherton ran for state Senate in 1994 and 1996, and Hale ran against Gulley in 2002 and 2006. He also ran for state House in 1982 and 1984.

Education, taxes and road improvements top the candidates’ list of concerns.

Charlotte Observer

I don’t think Gully has much to worry about here, especially with two challengers.  The two will dilute any anti-Gully vote that may be out there, propelling him to an easy reelection.  To my knowledge there isn’t a lot of constituent opposition to him.  You usually need a significant amount of voter dissatisfaction to take down an incumbent in a primary with multiple challengers.

About 100 city residents paraded from the Dilworth Neighborhood Grille on Morehead Street to city headquarters downtown, about a mile away. They were protesting the city’s rising crime rate and what some feel is a failure by leaders to address it.

This was long overdue. I am really surprised it took this long to get people upset enough to head to the City Council and am actually disappointed that it was only 100 people. Violent crime is up in Charlotte by double digits and there is plenty of blame to go around: a weak Chief of Police, and understaffed DA’s office, weak-kneed judges and prosecutors, and a City Council that has been complacent.

“One of the reasons they are able to prey on the community is the lack of any real consequences,” he said.

He offered examples: James Jacobs, who’s been arrested 52 times, 14 in the past 22 months, and David Cousart, a 17-year-old whom police arrested April 9 and who has been arrested 15 times since December 2005 for property crimes.

Councilman John Lassiter asked Sennett why the department arrests so many of the same people over and over. Sennett said it takes too long for cases to reach trial, and other sectors of the criminal justice system are underfunded and overburdened.

Lassiter said officials at all levels should discuss how to accelerate the process.

Actually this is something that Lassiter and his compatriots should have been doing months ago. This is not a recent event. There has been outcry building over this problem for a long, long time and the City Council has put their fingers in their ears. The Observer has a few other quotes from citizens at last night’s meeting:

“What does it take to get a person off the street? How many felonies does a person have to have?”
COURTNEY JAMES who said four people, including one who was convicted of 17 misdemeanors and 5 felonies, tried to break into his home two weeks ago

Read more at the Charlotte Observer…..

Update: Here is a link to the taping of last night’s meeting that was emailed to me.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Aaron Groen

April 28, 2008
(202) 225-2071

Foxx launches new Congressional web site

New web site features streamlined navigation, videos, RSS

WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (NC-05) today announced the launch of a completely redesigned Congressional web site at www.foxx.house.gov <http://www.foxx.house.gov/> . The new site
incorporates web video, the latest congressional news, information about constituent services and background on legislation and votes in Congress.

“The Internet is one of the best tools available for communicating with my constituents,” Foxx said. “My new web site uses a variety of technologies to keep constituents informed about the issues before
Congress, including videos, e-mail and online legislative search tools.”

Web-design experts at the non-partisan Congressional Management Foundation recently named Rep. Foxx’s web site one of the best in Congress. The redesigned site builds on the success of the previous web site and introduces new user-friendly features such as RSS feeds and comprehensive sections dedicated to groups like seniors or students.

“I hope my new web site serves as a one-stop-shop for constituents who need information about the federal government, or who want to know what is happening in Congress or who simply want to get in touch with me about the important issues facing North Carolinians,” Foxx said.

The new web site also includes tools to assist constituents in applying for federal grants, resolving issues with federal government agencies or securing a nomination to one of the five Service Academies. In
addition, the site outlines the application process for students who wish to serve as Congressional interns or pages.

Congresswoman Foxx today also reminded constituents to check out her Congressional YouTube <http://www.youtube.com/RepVirginiaFoxx> channel at www.youtube.com/RepVirginiaFoxx. Her channel is updated weekly with her latest floor speeches, committee hearings and web videos on recent issues and legislation.

GREER — Residents will have a chance Friday to hear June 10 primary candidates for the Republican nomination to two state House seats representing eastern Greenville County.

Republican candidates vying for districts 18 and 21 seats will appear at a forum beginning at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Cottages at Brushy Creek on South Buncombe Road.

District 18 candidates are Greer optometrist Pete Smith and Greer businessman Tommy Stringer of Landrum.

District 21 candidates are six-term incumbent Bob Leach of Greer and challenger Bill Wylie, retired CEO of Stone International and Goodwill Industries, of Simpsonville.

The Greenville News