In North Carolina, as many as 39 protesters were arrested protesting at the State Legislative Building Friday as the Legislature approved two controversial bills that aim to strip power from the state’s incoming governor, Democrat Roy Cooper. Activists and Democrats have accused the Republican lawmakers of waging a legislative coup. This is Reverend William Barber at the State Legislative Building Friday.
Rev. William Barber: “All political power—this is the Constitution—derives from the people, period. It doesn’t derive—it doesn’t derive from anybody else, but it derives from the people.”
One of the two bills approved Friday, which was quickly signed by outgoing Republican Governor Pat McCrory, strips future governors of their power to appoint a majority to the state Board of Elections. It also changes the state court system, making it more difficult for the losers of some Superior Court cases to appeal directly to the Democratic-controlled Supreme Court. A second bill, which had not been signed by the governor as of Friday afternoon, strips the incoming governor of his ability to name members of the boards of state universities, and it reduces the number of state employees the governor can appoint from 1,500 to 425. We’ll have more on North Carolina with Ari Berman later in the broadcast.