U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder will preside over a trial that starts on July 7 and is expected to last all week, in the lawsuits filed against voting rights restrictions passed by the 2013 session of the North Carolina legislature. One of those cases is North Carolina NAACP v McCrory; another was filed by the North Carolina League of Women Voters; a third was filed by the federal government. The trial will be in Winston-Salem.

See this story about the confusion caused by the 2013 legislature’s action in repealing the law that had permitted 17-year-olds to register in advance of their 18th birthday. The story also has some details about the upcoming trial.

Stephen Gaskin has died at the age of 79. See this obituary. In 2000 he sought the Green Party presidential nomination, a daunting task given that Ralph Nader was also seeking it. The vote at the Green Party convention in Denver was Nader 295, Gaskin 10, Jello Biafra 10. Thanks to Steven Linnabary for the link.

On April 28, 2014, the Arizona Legislature asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Arizona State Legislature v Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, 13-1314. The issue is whether Article One of the U.S. Constitution permits states to let independent redistricting commissions draw boundaries for U.S. House districts. Article One, Section Four, says, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof…”. A 3-judge U.S. District Court had ruled on February 21, 2014, by a 2-1 vote, that the Independent Redistricting Commission is included in “Legislature” because it exercises legislative power.

Here is a copy of the Arizona legislature’s request to the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case. Here is a copy of the other side’s brief, explaining why the Court should not hear the case.

In the meantime, another federal case challenges the Arizona U.S. House districts on one-person, one-vote grounds. The 3-judge district court had ruled in favor of the commission on that, and the voters who challenged the district boundaries also intend to ask for U.S. Supreme Court review in a few weeks. That case is Wesley Harris v Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.