Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/722073
ByGaryRobertson TheAssociatedPress RALEIGH, N.C. A divided U.S. Supreme Court re- fused Wednesday to re- instate North Carolina's voter identification re- quirement and keep just 10 days of early in-person voting. The decision — a victory for voting rights groups and President Barack Obama's Justice Depart- ment — means voters won't have to show one of several qualifying photo IDs when casting ballots in the presi- dential battleground state. Early voting also reverts to 17 days, to begin Oct. 20. The court rejected a re- quest by Gov. Pat McCrory and other state officials to delay a lower court ruling that found the state law was tainted by racial dis- crimination. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down several parts of the law last month, saying they were approved by Republi- can legislators with inten- tional bias against black voters in mind. Lawyers for McCrory and the state officials — some hired by GOP legislative leaders who championed the 2013 law — disagreed with the 4th Circuit ruling and wanted a delay while they draft an appeal on legal ar- guments they want the Su- preme Court to consider. The high court divided 4-4 on most of the chal- lenged provisions, with the four more conserva- tive justices supporting the state's bid to enforce them in the upcoming election. The split illustrates again how closely divided the Su- preme Court is on voting rights and how the out- come of the presidential election essentially will determine the direction of the court. The court has been op- erating with only eight members since Justice An- tonin Scalia died in Feb- ruary. A ninth justice cho- sen by Democratic Hillary Clinton would almost cer- tainly vote with the court's liberal justices on this is- sue. A justice picked by Re- publican Donald Trump would likely be a majority- making fifth vote for con- servatives. The voting adjustments could benefit Democrats in the November election, since registered Demo- crats historically have fa- vored using early vot- ing. Evidence presented during the trial over the 2013 law says black resi- dents disproportionately lack photo ID required by North Carolina's mandate. Black voters traditionally have voted overwhelm- ingly Democratic in North Carolina. Attorneys who sued over the law told the justices last week keeping voter ID and 10 days of early voting in place would irreparably harm minority voters hurt by these policies. They said arguments by the state were misguided that making voting rules different in the general election compared to the primaries would cause confusion. Voter ID was required during the state's two primary elections this year and 10 days of early voting have been in place since 2014. In fact, the plaintiffs' lawyers said, it would be even worse to keep the re- quirements in place when election officials are now re-arranging voting pro- cedures based on the 4th Circuit decision July 29. McCrory and Repub- lican legislative lead- ers have said voter ID is a commonsense require- ment to increase the in- tegrity of elections. They pointed out black voter turnout increased in 2014. Appeals court judges said the state provided no ev- idence of the kind of in- person voter fraud the ID mandate would address. A trial court judge in April had upheld the 2013 law, but the 4th Circuit panel wrote he seemed "to have missed the forest in carefully surveying the many trees" by failing to recognize a link between race and politics in North Carolina. The challenged pro- visions "target African Americans with almost surgical precision," said the 4th Circuit ruling, which also struck down provisions eliminating same-day registration dur- ing the early voting period and the counting of Elec- tion Day ballots cast by a person outside of their home precinct. The state didn't ask the Supreme Court to restore these pro- visions. DECISION UShighcourt refuses to reinstate NC voter ID law FINDINGS STEPHANSAVOIA—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE The head of a North Atlantic right whale peers up from the water as another whale passes behind in Cape Cod Bay near Provincetown, Mass. An August study found that the ability of the endangered whale species to recover is jeopardized by increasing rates of entanglement in fishing gear and a resultant drop in birth rates. By Patrick Whittle The Associated Press PORTLAND, MAINE The ability of an endangered whale species to recover is jeopardized by increasing rates of entanglement in fishing gear and a resultant drop in birth rates, accord- ing to scientists who study the animal. The population of North Atlantic right whales has slowly crept up from about 300 in 1992 to about 500 in 2010. But a study that ap- peared this month in the journal Frontiers in Ma- rine Science said the num- ber of baby right whales born every year has de- clined by nearly 40 percent since 2010. Study author Scott Kraus, a scientist with the New England Aquarium in Boston who worked on the study, said the whales' pop- ulation suffers even when they survive entanglements in fishing gear. He said data suggest those entangle- ments have long-term nega- tive physical and reproduc- tive effects on them. "They are carrying heavy gear around, and they can't move as fast or they can't feed as effectively," Kraus told The Associated Press in an interview. "And it looks like it affects their ability to reproduce because it means they can't put on enough fat to have a baby." Entanglements have surpassed ship strikes as a leading danger to right whales in recent years. Forty-four percent of diag- nosed right whale deaths were due to ship strikes and 35 percent were due to en- tanglements from 1970 to 2009, the study said. From 2010 to 2015, 15 percent of diagnosed deaths were due to ship strikes and 85 per- cent were due to entangle- ments, it said. There is reason to be- lieve the entanglements could harm conservation ef- forts despite recent positive signs on the whales' recov- ery, Kraus said. Research- ers said earlier this year that they were beginning to see more of the whales in Cape Cod Bay, and that was a good sign. Stormy Mayo, a senior scientist at the Center for Coastal Studies in Prov- incetown, said the drive to make fishing gear safer for the whales could be key to saving them. "There's a great deal of work being done to try to change the configurations of various kinds of fish- ing gear or the methods of fishing to reduce entangle- ment," he told the AP. North Atlantic right whales are among the most endangered species of whales in the world. They spend the warm months feeding in areas off the Northeastern states and Canada and spend the winter off Southern states, where they give birth. They are called right whales because they were hunted relentlessly during the whaling era, when they were considered the "right" whale to hunt because they were slow and floated when killed. Rare whale's recovery hurt by entanglements, scientists conclude By Emily Swanson The Associated Press WASHINGTON Across ra- cial and ethnic groups, most young Americans think police treat some groups of people differently than others, according to a new GenForward poll. The poll shows that most think African-Americans, Latinos, the poor and im- migrants are more likely to be mistreated. It also shows that young blacks are especially likely to say they've experienced arrest, harassment or violence by police. GenForward is a survey of adults age 18 to 30 by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with The Associated Press- NORC Center for Public Af- fairs Research. The first-of- its-kind poll pays special attention to the voices of young adults of color, high- lighting how race and eth- nicity shape the opinions of a new generation. What to know from the poll about young Ameri- cans' views of police: Mostseediffering treatment About three-quarters of young Americans say they think the police treat some groups of people differ- ently. That includes 9 in 10 African-Americans, more than 8 in 10 Asian-Amer- icans and Hispanics, and more than 6 in 10 whites. Among those who do see a disparity, 9 in 10 say Af- rican-Americans are es- pecially likely to be mis- treated, with little varia- tion along racial and ethnic lines. About three-quarters think Latinos are espe- cially likely to be mis- treated, including nearly 9 in 10 Hispanics, almost 8 in 10 whites and Asian-Amer- icans, and about 7 in 10 Af- rican-Americans In addition, two-thirds think poor people and im- migrants are more likely to face mistreatment. 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