The 19th: “The Florida Supreme Court struck down its state abortion protection — paving the way for a six-week ban passed in 2023 to take effect — but will allow voters to weigh in on whether they can amend the state’s constitution to explicitly enshrine abortion rights. The court issued two separate rulings Monday: one upholding…

North State Journal: “Thomas Farr, a longtime North Carolina redistricting and election law attorney who regularly defended Republican interests but whose 2018 federal judgeship nomination was scuttled by two GOP senators, has died, a legal colleague said Tuesday. He was 69. Farr died on Monday following a series of heart problems, according to Phil Strach, a fellow…

NC Newsline: “State Treasurer Dale Folwell declined again on Tuesday to endorse Republican Lt. Governor Mark Robinson in North Carolina’s closely watched gubernatorial contest. Folwell, who lost the GOP nomination race to Robinson in the March primary, has refused since that time to endorse Robinson in his general election showdown with the Democratic nominee, Attorney…

Old North State Politics: “All this is to say: North Carolina matters. But, as anyone has has ever attempted to order Eastern Barbecue West of Lexington knows, the state is not a monolith. Some counties in North Carolina prefer the tomato based sauce in the West and some prefer the vinegar based sauce in the…

The 19th: “Stacey Abrams has a big imagination. She’s used it to expand Georgia’s electorate, be the first Black woman to be a major-party nominee for governor and write 16 books across multiple genres. This week on the show, Stacey sits down with Errin to share how she imagines American policy and democracy shifting — from…

NC Newsline: “Affordable housing advocates say such victories are too few for North Carolina tenants, who they contend, are often up against unjust laws that leave them at the mercy of landlords. The organizers of the new North Carolina Tenants Union (NCTU), which officially launched Tuesday, want to level the playing field. NCTU was created to help…

North State Journal: “A federal appeals court declined Thursday to order North Carolina legislators to redraw some state Senate districts, rejecting arguments that clear evidence has been presented showing Republican manipulation of boundaries means black voters there are prevented from electing their favored candidates. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit…

Political Wire: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has collected enough signatures to qualify for the presidential ballot in North Carolina, his campaign said Monday,” Axios reports. “North Carolina is expected to be a battleground in 2024 — and the Biden campaign has eyed the state as a possible pick-up opportunity.”

11Alive: “Protesters opposed to the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center disrupted a construction site early Wednesday morning by locking themselves to a 250-foot crane, activists said, in at least the third such protest action in recent months. The group “Drop Cop City” issued a release saying the protest targeted a site at 11th Street and Bellingrath Avenue,…

NY Times: “A woman in Texas who was falsely charged with murder over a self-induced abortion in 2022 has filed a lawsuit against the local prosecutor’s office and its leaders, seeking more than $1 million in damages. Lizelle Gonzalez was arrested in April 2022 in Starr County, near the southeastern border with Mexico, and charged with murder…