North Carolina editorial roundup

Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers:

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Feb. 27

The Herald-Sun of Durham on town halls and political stunts:

Three times last week, a state Senate committee summoned Larry Hall to be vetted for his appointment to head the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Three times, committee members faced an empty table with a name card for Hall, who until Roy Cooper named him to his cabinet represented Durham in the state House.

The empty table made for good television. For Cooper and Democrats who contend the law requiring legislative confirmation, passed in the waning days of Pat McCrory’s tenure, is unconstitutional, it is a bold show of defiance. For the committee and GOP, it was a demonstration of executive contempt for legislature’s duly assigned power.

Meanwhile, across the nation, including here in the Triangle, Democratic activist groups have been staging “town hall” meetings. At many of them - like Triangle Indivisible’s meeting last Wednesday in Cary - the “invited” senators or representatives were nowhere to be seen. In Cary, poster-sized pictures of Sen. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr were stand-ins for the candidates.

Typically, town halls are organized and hosted by the senators or representatives involved - like ones for Democratic congressmen G. K. Butterfield and David Price during this congressional recess.

The activists organizing the town halls featuring absent representatives know full well they will be hosting empty chairs - just as the Republicans in the legislature knew full well that Larry Hall would be a no-show for their hearings.

It was, on both sides, what one broadcast commentator called last week a “political charade.”

For many voters, it is the sort of thing that exacerbates disdain for, even disgust with, the political process. It’s viewed as “gotcha” gamesmanship, form over substance, showy dysfunction they associate with government at all levels.

Partisans on either side of the aisle are especially quick to characterize their opponents’ tactics as cheap theater — while extolling the virtue of their own events.

For a host of voters who see themselves as moderates in the middle of the road, there’s a plague-on-all-their-houses reaction.

We understand that dismay.

We also think we better get used to this. The deep divisions in our country that became apparent through last year’s long, bitter presidential campaign have grown ever deeper since the election.

Trump’s supporters salute what they see as his tough-talking, action-oriented governing style. His foes are mortified, in some cases terrified, and gearing for a no-holds-barred “resistance” for the next four years.

Some of what we see - much of what we see - may be political charades.

On the other hand, profound differences can manifest themselves in far worse ways. Charades aren’t so bad.

Online:

https://www.heraldsun.com/

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Feb. 26

The Winston-Salem Journal on racial profiling:

A state bill filed recently to prohibit law enforcement officers from racially profiling people could help increase trust between the police and the public, despite the uphill battle it faces.

Democratic legislators filed House Bill 99, known as the Anti-Discrimination Act of 2017, in the N.C. House, the Journal’s John Hinton reported. On top of prohibiting racial profling, it would require law enforcement agencies to collect homicide statistics, including data about people killed by law enforcement officers. It also - and this may be its most important provision - requires officers to receive annual training concerning discriminatory profiling.

“The training components and homicide reporting components present a great opportunity for law enforcement and the community to continue growing their relationship toward more and more positive interactions,” State Rep. Ed Hanes, D-Forsyth, told the Journal in an email. “If we can work together on the data side that can guide our training, conversation and continued growth.”

Many provisions in the bill are already being carried out by the Winston-Salem Police Department, Chief Barry Rountree told the Journal, including the department’s policy on bias-free policing that prohibits officers from profiling people based on their race, ethnicity, origin, gender, gender identity and other characteristics.

“Based on the way the current version of this proposed bill is written, I don’t see any issues for the police department,” Rountree told the Journal.

Good for our local police force’s attention to this aspect of public service. Unfortunately, we doubt it’s a policy that every N.C. police department practices. And even with the department’s attention, there may be room for improvement.

State Rep. Evelyn Terry, D-Forsyth, told the Journal that some constituents tell her that police racially profile them.

“Racial profiling is a well-documented and deeply troubling problem that erodes trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, particularly communities of color,” Sarah Gillooly, the policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, told the Journal.

“Right now, we are seeing too much violence in our communities,” state Rep. Cecil Brockman of High Point, a Democrat and a primary sponsor of the bill, told the Journal. “But it is hard to fix these problems if there is distrust between the community and law enforcement, especially if people feel like they are being profiled or discriminated against.

“We need to work together to eliminate the biases that divide us so we can bring about safer situations for our next generation,” he told the Journal.

And that’s the meat of the matter.

In our current polarized climate, Republicans may be reluctant to pass a bill that originates with Democrats.

But like it or not - and however we got here - there are segments of the public that distrust the police. That’s the situation and it requires attention.

The bill could help resolve matters. The GOP should give it a shot.

Online:

https://www.journalnow.com/

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Feb. 20

The Gaston Gazette on foster care in North Carolina:

Foster care for abused, neglected and dependent children is in a “state of crisis” in North Carolina, according to state officials and others studying the issue.

Ideally, foster care finds good homes on a temporary basis for youngsters and teens who cannot live with their own families for a variety of reasons - homelessness, parent illness or alcohol and drug abuse.

For the past few years, however, the number of children needing foster care has grown far faster than the number of families willing to take them. The Children’s Home Society, the nonprofit that oversees most foster placements in North Carolina, reports it had nearly 3,000 referrals last year, but only 364 new families to take them. Since 2011, the number of North Carolina children in foster care has grown from 11,000 to 15,000.

What’s going on? As with all social problem, the causes are complicated, but a few issues stand out.

One of them, according to many officials, is the much-ballyhooed opioid epidemic. Roughly 40 percent of children entering the foster care system are there because of parents’ substance abuse, a percentage that’s grown in recent years.

At the same time, funds for in-home services, such as monitoring or counseling - which provide an alternative to foster care in many case - have been cut in recent years, largely due to reduced federal funding.

It’s not easy to sell foster care. Youngsters are too often regarded as “damaged goods.” State officials acknowledge that some were sexually or physically abused; many have developed discipline or behavior problems. Their prospects are much worse, though, without foster care.

Meanwhile, nobody gets rich in the foster care business. Foster parents are compensated, but the rates are typically less than $500 per month for children aged 5 and younger and not much more than $600 per month for teenagers.

Money can solve some of these problems. The Duke Endowment is to be commended for its recent four-year, $3.7 million grant to the Children’s Home Society. Let’s hope that other foundations and corporations follow its lead.

The General Assembly, meanwhile, should strongly consider making up former funding levels for social service agencies working with troubled families. We have a budget surplus at the moment, so it’s a good time.

In the end, however, what’s needed are more stable, open-hearted couples willing to offer a haven to a child in trouble. Call the Children’s Home Society at 1-800-632-1400 or visit www.chsnc.org if you think you might have what it takes.

We can’t think of a higher calling.

Online:

https://www.gastongazette.com/