Yesterday was a big news day. The biggest story was probably our Tinpot Dictator’s decision to unilaterally violate the Iranian nuclear deal. In addition to alienating almost everyone not named Bibi Netanyahu or John Bolton, and making the world less safe, the main thing this proves is that Trump can’t see more than ten minutes into the future: very soon, he will supposedly be sitting down with North Korea’s Kim Kong Un to… negotiate a nuclear deal. What a wonderful time to petulantly scream that the U.S. does not abide by its nuclear deals! Back home, if you pay attention to local elections, you’ll have heard that in the Republican primary that includes a sizable part of Charlotte, U.S. House incumbent Robert Pittinger narrowly lost to Rev. Mark Harris, a far right preacher who led the state’s 2012 anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment. Conventional wisdom is that Harris will be easier for Democratic nominee McReady to challenge in the fall.
The news that I suspect didn’t make it out of the local area is that Mecklenburg County’s Sheriff Irwin Carmichael just lost – badly – his re-election bid. There were three candidates in the Democratic primary, and nobody on the Republican ticket, so the winner last night won the office. Carmichael had defended the County’s use of 287(g) rules that allowed the ICE agents access to those detained in Mecklenburg County (which includes Charlotte; Charlotte police do not participate in 287(g)) jails. His support for that program is, by all accounts, why he lost. Both of his opponents came out against it, and there was a strong grass-roots mobilization campaign. The winner also plans to roll back two of Carmichael’s ending in-person visits with inmates and condoning the use of solitary confinement.
That’s a good day for those of us who care about criminal justice reform and a reminder that local politics can matter.
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