February 13, 2016–United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts did not say, “no.” He did not say, “yes.” Instead, he said, “maybe.”
“Maybe” is what Roberts told North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and top state Republican officials when they asked him to sideline a federal court ruling and at least grant a stay on the federal court panel’s order. In that order, the three-judge, federal court panel ruled unconstitutional the boundaries of North Carolina’s 12^th and 1^st Congressional Districts, and gave the State until Friday, Feb. 19, to draw new districts, according to reports in The Charlotte Observer (2/11/2016, 2/10/2016).
Specifically, Chief Judge John Roberts offered no decision on the NC Republicans’ request for a stay and hearing. Instead, Roberts ruled that the plaintiffs in the Congressional re-districting case have until Tuesday, Feb. 16, to provide a response to the State’s request. That leaves only three days until the lower federal court’s original deadline for the State to redraw the districts, according to The Charlotte Observer (2/11/2016).
Therefore, the Chief Justice did not rule, “yes.” He did not rule, “no.” He ruled “maybe,” with an unrealistic time crunch, to boot.
Yesterday, Friday, Feb. 12^th, the NC legislature decided to move ahead with redrawing the two districts to remain in compliance with the original federal court panel’s decision, according to The Charlotte Observer (2/13/2016). That was a wise choice. All of us wait to hear, however, what Chief Justice John Roberts will rule on Tuesday or soon after on the State’s request and appeal.
I think Justice John Roberts should grant a stay on the enforcement of the federal court panel’s ruling, but should not grant a hearing and appeal with the US Supreme Court. I hear the NC State officials’ complaint that the quick timing of the decision would throw this election into disarray, since it would force the State to move too quickly on the redrawing of the districts. Therefore, I think the Chief Justice should allow the decision to take effect immediately after the primary election: Roberts should give the State one month, until April 15^th, 2016, to redraw the districts. That would be substantially more time than the two weeks originally provided by the panel, more than the one week that the State legislature is taking and using, and would not fall in the middle of a primary election. The new districts should be in place, however, by April 15^th, I think, which would provide ample time for the general election to be held with the new district boundaries.
The current Congresswoman for the 12^th District, Alma Adams, is running for re-election this year. She offered no opinion on the federal court decision at this time, but instead, she focused her attention on continuing to do her job as a Congresswoman and on running her re-election campaign.
“We don’t know what the impacts of this decision will be yet, but for now I am concentrating on doing my job as the Congresswoman for the 12th District,” Alma Adams said in a statement, “and running a campaign on the basis of my strong record of doing what is right for North Carolina and my District.” Sam Spencer, campaign manager for Congresswoman Adams, provided the statement.
Regardless of the outcome of all the current litigation, I support and endorse Congresswoman Alma Adams, a Democrat, for re-election to Congress in the 12^thDistrict. I agree with her, and think she is good for the people of North Carolina, serving as our representative in Washington.

Congresswoman Alma Adams

Which brings us back to the merits of the case before the Chief Justice. I think the reality is obvious, and should not need to be heard by the full Supreme Court. The current party breakdown of NC’s congressional delegation is 10 Republicans and three Democrats, according to Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer(2/10/2016). That represents a lopsided number. Part of that must be attributed to the current political climate in North Carolina, definitely trending conservative and Republican, but part of that partisan representation may be due to Congressional maps that favor exactly the breakdown and representation we currently have.
Both the 12^th and the 1^st are represented by African-American Democrats, for example, and with the exception of one other seat held by a Democrat, all other seats are held by Republicans. That is precisely the kind of lop-sided representation that the current Congressional district maps in NC encourage.
The numbers follow race, as well. The Democratic Party vote is weakened across districts, and the African-American vote is concentrated into these two districts, both represented by African-American officials. These results indicate the diluting of the African-American vote out of nearby districts, and into the 12^thand the 1^st.
I think these two districts should be redrawn with sensible, obvious geography and politics as top concerns.

For now, though, I think the numbers spell out an obvious case. We need to redraw these maps in a timely fashion with as little disruption to the current election as possible. I think there is no need for the full Supreme Court to explore all of these issues yet again, however, particularly for the 12^thDistrict, which, according to Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer, has already been heard by our top court at least four times.
Leave it alone, I would argue. Delay the federal court panel’s ruling to make it more palatable to enforce by the current NC government, and otherwise, leave it alone. Let the ruling stand without further appeal. The merits of the case are obvious. This federal court panel has the right time for North Carolina in this ruling, and its order should stand.

Charlotte, NC

July 21, 2014–I published a letter to the editor in last Friday’s Charlotte Observer (7/18/2014, Charlotte, NC). In the letter, I comment on the new, NC state voter laws, and specifically, on the photo ID provision. The link follows:

Letter to Editor

June 28, 2014–

A Carolina Moon
 
 
A
full moon
 
shines
brightly
 
in
the black
 
night
sky
 
outside
my

bedroom
window.
 
It
hangs high
 
over
a trove
 
of
trees
 
nearby
in this
 
apartment
complex.
 
No,
this is
 
not
a story
 
of
any
 
seedy
underbelly
 
of
life
 
in
the
 
working-
class,
 
in
the
 
New
South,
 
detailing
rogue
 
figures
and
 
outlaws
and
 
drugs
and
 
prostitution
and
 
all
that.
 
No,
this is

just
a
 
story
of
 
the
Carolina moon—
 
how
bright,
 
how
beautiful
 
above
the
 
darkened
trees.
 
It
is
 
hard
to
 
imagine
someone
 
escaping
this place—
 
a
slave

running
in the
 
underground
railroad
 
in
the
 
antebellum
South,
 
headed
North,
 
or
a
 
mass
migration

in
the
 
early
twentieth-
 
century,
away
 
from
old
 
Jim
Crow.
 
It
is
 
hard
to imagine,
 
even
if
 
entirely
understandable.
 
Why?
Simply
 
because
no
 
moon
shines
 
so
bright,
 
so
beautiful
 
in
the dark

night
sky
 
as
this
 
Carolina
moon
 
tonight.

—Nicholas Patti

June 25, 2014–

Open letter to the editor of the Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC):

In response to “County Sends Sales Tax to Ballot” (June 18):

December 17, 2013–Two new poems of mine have appeared in a new anthology, released in November, 2013, entitled The Best of the Final Friday Reading Series, 2012-2013. The collection is edited by Jonathan K. Rice and M. Scott Douglass, and published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company in Charlotte, NC. Their website is www.MainStreetRag.com.
     The book collects poems from the poetry open mic and featured reading at Vin Master in Charlotte, NC. I have two poems included. They are, “When Drowning,” and “Ode to a Sunny, Back-lawn Terrace in Charlotte in November.”
     An excerpt follows:

When drowning,
it is

important
to

tread
water.

…

    Check out my poems and this book full of good poetry. Go to Main Street Rag (above) and purchase/request your copy today!

–Nicholas Patti
   Charlotte, NC

Open Letter to The Charlotte Observer (unpublished in the paper), December 17, 2013:

     It is with sadness but not regret that I note the passing of Nelson Mandela, South African revolutionary turned president turned elder statesman for the world.
     Like President Obama, my first serious political involvement was in the anti-apartheid movement. In my case, I chaired the Southern African Awareness Committee (SoAAC) as an undergraduate at the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) in 1989 and 1990, during the global divestment effort.
     Unlike President Obama, however, I took a more circuitous route through adulthood. I became a poet. My most recent publication is in the NC anthology, The Best of the Final Friday Reading Series, which just came out in November, 2013, in Charlotte.
     Nelson Mandela serves as an inspiration and ideal, now, for all of us, not only for presidents and leaders the world over. I commend your coverage.

–Nicholas Patti
   Charlotte, NC