During the 2009 Session of the General Assembly, Senator Floyd McKissick(D) from Durham County introduced the Racial Justice Act SB461. The act provides a process by which statistical evidence could be used to establish that race was the basis for seeking or obtaining the death penalty in any case. The Act allows pre-trial defendants and inmates on death row the opportunity to challenge the decision to seek or impose capital punishment.
Nobel Laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn and US Senator Jesse Helms forged a relationship that allowed them to help shape events that brought down one of the world’s most powerful governments.
Nobel Laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn and US Senator Jesse Helms spent more than one-half of their lives without an awareness of each other’s existence. They spoke different languages. They met only a few times, yet they forged a relationship that allowed them to help shape events that brought down one of the world’s most powerful governments. By examining the commonalities of these two men, their relationship, and their shared values, we can gain an understanding of their passion and the importance of their message for all of us today.
Ideas Have Consequences was a 1948 book by conservative intellectual Richard M. Weaver. Weaver, an English professor at the University of Chicago, argued that culture, society, and truth itself were disintegrating in the modern age. His book was a tremendous influence in the history of American conservatism.
“Thinking Things Over” was a column in the Wall Street Journal written by Journal editor Vermont C. Royster (1914-1996). The column, which ran from 1964 until 1986, showcased Royster’s folksy language and conservative philosophy. Royster received a Pulitzer Prize for his work in 1984.
Robert L. Doughton (1863-1954) represented North Carolina’s ninth congressional district (centered in Alleghany and Ashe counties) from 1933 until 1953. Although he had a reputation as a fiscal conservative, Doughton was nonetheless an important ally of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.
Graham Arthur Barden represented North Carolina’s Third Congressional District, which covered the Outer Banks and several coastal counties, from 1934 until 1960. His reaction to the New Deal was a typical North Carolinian one: initial support, giving way to deep suspicion.
As part of the Progressive movement’s concern for children’s welfare, the North Carolina Conference for Social Service started in 1912. Nationalism, the interests of the state, and economic planning also influenced concern for children and the establishment of programs for their benefit.
Commercial restrictions through tariffs have been an integral part of American history, and Tar Heels have voiced their opinion on tariff legislation since the founding of the United States. The federal government has used tariffs to raise revenue and protect American industry and labor. During the Great Depression, Congress passed the highest tariff in the United States history.
Hailing from Washington, North Carolina, Lindsay Warren was a long-serving Democratic politician. He served eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and led the U.S. General Accounting Office (now the Government Accountability Office) for more than a decade.