1. Important N.C Facts and Review

2. When in doubt: The NC and US Constitutions are “mirror images of one another”
US Constitutional breakdown (This had better be review!) NC Constitution also has a preamble
Article 1 is the Declaration of rights
Article 2 is the Legislative Branch
Article 3 is the executive branch
Article 4 is the judicial branch
The Declaration of rights is North Carolina’s version of the bill of rights
North Carolina’s legislative branch is called the General Assembly
North Carolina judges are elected for 8 year terms
The Governor has an appointed cabinet and an elected council of the state
1. US has a Preamble 2. Article 1: Legislative branch (Bicameral: HOR and Senate) 3. Article 2: Executive Branch (President, VP, Cabinet) 4. Article 3: Judicial Branch (Supreme Court) 5. Us Constitution has a Bill of Rights 6. Us Legislative Branch is called Congress 7. Appointed Judges serve for life 8. The president has an appointed council

3. State and Local Services information
The state government spends the most money on education
State governments regulate INTRAstate commerce
The governor has a lt. governor and they are elected separately (how is this different than the president and vice president??
Both the Vice president and lt. Governor are tie breakers in their senate’s
The Sherriff is the highest elected law enforcement official

4. Zoning/Gerrymandering/Incorporation and other important stuff
Incorporation: The process by which a state establishes a new city.
Zoning: a system of LAND ORGANIZATION. This is where cities divide areas up into Residential (living) Commercial (business) and Industrial (Factories) areas
Gerrymandering: Dividing an area up to benefit a political party. The 12th district of NC is gerrymandered.
The difference between gerrymandering and zoning is that Gerrymandering deals with voting and zoning deals with land organization

5. N.C. Landmark Supreme Court Cases
State v. Mann (1829)
A lower court convicted a slave owner, John Mann of killing one of his slaves. The N.C. Supreme Court overruled the conviction.
Supreme Court Decision
Slave owners could not be guilty of murder for killing their slaves, because slaves were considered property.
Established the N.C. Constitution as the supreme law of the state.

6. N.C. Landmark Supreme Court Cases
Leandro v. North Carolina: 1997
This case considered whether the state’s distribution of funds among school districts was sufficient and fair.
Families from five poorer, largely African American counties originally filed suit.
Dealt with the issue of equal funding in public schools
Supreme Court Decision
All North Carolina children have a right to the “equal opportunity to receive a sound basic education”.

7. N.C. Landmark Supreme Court Cases
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg
After Brown v. Board, no one really did anything to desegregate. Charlotte was the first to do so with this ruling. It mandated that schools bus students to other districts to force the integration of races in schools.
About the CMS school district and subject of school busing.
SUPREME COURT DECISION
1971- CMS district became the first to undergo court-ordered busing to desegregate classrooms.
Reinforced the decision of Brown v. Board of Education

8. N.C. Landmark Supreme Court Cases
Cappachionne v. CMS
Dealt with the issue of racial quotas in magnet schools in CMS. Schools set up quotas that allowed for a certain amount of students based on race. Cappacchionne was a whit student not allowed in the school because there were no open “white seats” left. Her parents, and several others sued on grounds of discrimination.
Decision
They won on the grounds that any racial quota is unconstitutional.

9. Changing the N.C. Constitution
Refer endum: A process by which a legislative measure (law or bill) is referred to the State’s voters for final approval or rejection, put forth by the Governor or General Assembly. *** (direct popular vote)
This law is created by the General assembly, then referred to the voters…Voters have no say in how the law is written, all they do is vote yes or no.

10. Changing the N.C. Constitution
Initiative: A process by which a certain number of qualified voters sign petitions in favor of a proposal, which goes directly to the ballot.
Petition: Voters sign a document to show support for an issue.
Citizens in 17 States can use an initiative to propose amendments to State constitution.
This could be anything from Marriage laws to Alcohol laws.
This law is written by the people and given to the general assembly.
How is this different from a referendum?