Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1503533
4 UCW JULY 12 - 18, 2023 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com MANAGING EDITOR April Olsen editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Hannah Lee assistanteditor@upandcomingweekly. com ART DIRECTOR Courtney Sapp-Scott art@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Isaiah Jones graphics@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITERS Alyson Hansen Kathleen Ramsey Chayenne Burns Katrina Wilson Aubrette Reid Laura Browne CONTRIBUTING WRITERS John Hood, Evey Weisblat, Rob Walls, Keith Carter, Ashley Kelsey MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister linda@upandcomingweekly.com SALES ASSISTANT Sheila Barker salesassistant@upandcomingweekly. com COVER Cover design by Courtney Sapp-Scott Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: 910-484-6200- FAX: 910-484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Published weekly on Wednesdays, Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Army Airfield, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. Association of Community Publishers Letters to the Editor Do YOU have something to say? We want YOU to be heard! We want EVERYONE to be able to voice their opinions on current community events. Let us be a place to start much needed conversations. ALL VOICES WELCOMED! EMAIL: editor@upandcomingweekly.com CALL: 910-484-6200 PUBLISHER'S PEN Separation of powers protects freedoms by JOHN HOOD Has there even been a point of time in which so many public controversies rest on a single, abstract principle of constitu- tional government? I can't think of one. e principle in question is the separa- tion of powers. Here are only some of its recent political manifestations: •e U.S. Supreme Court has just blocked President Joe Biden's attempt to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars in debt from student borrowers to federal taxpayers. e federal constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, not the president, and the statute Biden cited as giving him sweeping authority to transfer debt did no such thing. •e Supreme Court also struck down the racial preferences used by the Uni- versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and other highly selective institutions to discriminate against white and Asian students. In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson argued that if her colleagues believe "preventing consideration of race will end racism," their intention will "be in vain." But as Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority decision, the judiciary isn't authorized to pursue policy inten- tions of any kind. Its job is to decide whether specific acts are lawful. Racial discrimination isn't. If you think there should be exceptions, your proper course is to rewrite the rel- evant federal statutes and constitutional provisions. Courts can do neither. •In yet another decision with North Carolina connections, Moore v. Harper, the Supreme Court ruled that the con- stitutional language giving "state legisla- tures" the power to determine the time, place, and manner of federal elections does not exclude such legislative deci- sions from review by state courts. As you may recall, the North Carolina Supreme Court intervened before the 2022 elections to strike down a congres- sional map drawn by the General As- sembly. e state court, then composed mostly of Democrats, drew from general language in the state constitution about "free elections" and "equal protection" to invent a new rule against partisan gerry- mandering. en it authorized non-law- makers to draw congressional districts for 2022. After the midterm elections, which produced a 5-2 GOP majority on the N.C. Supreme Court, this abuse of the separation of powers was (properly) reversed. In the meantime, however, Speaker Tim Moore had appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that under the federal constitution, state courts may exercise no legitimate oversight of congressional redistricting. Chief Justice Roberts disagreed, writing in this major- ity decision that Moore's argument "does not account for the Framers' understand- ing that when legislatures make laws, they are bound by the provisions of the very documents that give them life." ere is ample precedent for Roberts' interpretation, such as a 1932 decision upholding the power of governors to veto congressional districts if that's what their state constitutions permit. When the U.S. constitution refers to state legisla- tures, the court ruled, it does so in full knowledge that legislatures must act "in accordance with the method which the state has prescribed for legislative enact- ments." •Finally, on several occasions this session the North Carolina General As- sembly has sought to strip the executive branch of significant influence over the enforcement of state laws and the admin- istration of state agencies. As I've previ- ously argued, you can be sympathetic to the legislature's concerns without endorsing an unconstitutional remedy for them. Like the federal one, our state constitu- tion specifically requires that the "legis- lative, executive, and supreme judicial powers of the state government shall be forever separate and distinct from each other." Why? Because checks and balances are essential to freedom and effective gov- ernance. e English philosopher John Locke argued in 1689 that in any "well- formed government," the "legislative and executive powers are in distinct hands." e man who coined the phrase "sepa- ration of powers," Charles de Montes- quieu, wrote in 1748 that "when the legis- lative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty." Process matters. at's what we can learn from all of these disputes. Few les- sons are more important. Editor's note: John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His latest books, Mountain Folk and Forest Folk, combine epic fantasy with early American history (FolkloreCycle.com). JOHN HOOD, Board Member, John Locke Foundation. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200