North Carolina voter ID law struck down as discriminatory to black voters

A U.S. appeals court on Friday struck down a North Carolina law that required voters to show photo identification when casting ballots, ruling that it intentionally discriminated against African-American residents.

The ruling is likely to be seen as a boost for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton going into November's election. The state is politically important as it does not lean heavily toward either Democrats or Republicans, and Clinton is heavily favored among black Americans over Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The court's decision also canceled provisions of the law that scaled back early voting, prevented residents from registering and voting on the same day, and eliminated the ability of voters to vote outside their assigned precinct.

Critics argue that voting laws enacted by North Carolina and several other states are designed to drive down turnout by minorities and poor people who rely more on flexible voting methods and are less likely to possess state-issued photo IDs.

In its ruling, a three-judge panel at the U.S. Appeals Court for the Fourth Circuit said the state legislature targeted African-Americans "with almost surgical precision."

"We cannot ignore the recent evidence that, because of race, the legislature enacted one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history," Judge Diana Motz wrote.

Voting rights advocates heralded the decision as a major victory.

"This ruling is a stinging rebuke of the state's attempt to undermine African-American voter participation, which had surged over the last decade," Dale Ho, director of the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement. The ACLU was one of the groups that challenged the law in court.

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Elijah Cummings: Protesters booing during DNC speech were 'disrespectful'

Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings says he thinks liberal supporters of Bernie Sanders who chanted an anti-trade slogan during his speech to the Democratic National Convention were "disrespectful."

But Cummings says he is not upset about it because he is a veteran of civil rights protests and understands the passions that drove the mostly young delegates to shout over him on Monday. More than 100 people have since apologized for the outbursts, Cummings said.

"The optics were not pretty," Cummings said of the impromptu protest, "but I couldn't be upset with them. Two or three years ago, they would have been outside politics" and likely protesting in the streets. "I am so glad these people are under our tent."

The sight of a 65-year-old black man — and veteran congressional leader — being shouted over by mostly young, white liberals was jarring to many.

Kweisi Mfume, a former Maryland congressman and head of the NAACP, said the treatment of Cummings was "a low point" of the four-day convention.

"It was downright disrespectful," said Mfume, a Clinton delegate. "I think it does not necessarily help the relations that Bernie's people may have with the larger African-American community."

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Was there a cover-up in the Sandra Bland Case?

A police officer who witnessed Sandra Bland's traffic stop said the Waller County district attorney would not let him testify before a grand jury about facts favorable to Bland, a community activist and former Waller County justice of the peace said Tuesday.

The officer - whose comments over the telephone with activist DeWayne Charleston were recorded said an official with the district attorney's office then threatened to retaliate against him if he went public with his story.

"This is what happens when you try to cross the thin blue line," Charleston said.

"He says Brian Encinia made sure he was not in ear shot of the car. He turned off his own microphone so no one would hear. And then he called his supervisor. He said, 'I have no idea what I'm going to arrest her for, but we'll figure it out when we get to the county jail,'" Charleston said Monday.

Kelley says on the recording he tried to share what he'd heard with an official at the district attorney's office.

"I wanted to testify on Sandra Bland's behalf and they told me if I said anything they're going to come after me," he said in the recording.

"He [Kelly] told me a lot of stuff," Charleston explained, "but the most important is this bit about him being on the scene and making a request to testify and being denied."

In addition, Kelly apparently told Charleston in the audio that a written statement he submitted to the Prairie View police chief never made it into the official DPS report about Bland's traffic stop for changing lanes without signaling.

Charleston said Kelley said on the recording that he offered to testify but that the Waller County District Attorney did not return his call.

Read more: Prairie View officer says DA wouldn't let him testify about Sandra Bland traffic stop

President Obama's dynamic 2016 DNC convention Speech

Check out President Obama's dynamic speech at the 2016 DNC convention. A speech that reminds us why voters in America elected the man twice. A speech that reminds us that as a nation we have far to go but tells us how far we have come in the last 8 years. A speech that lets us know that although Hillary Clinton will be great president we will truly miss President Obama. Watch his speech below.

Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore State Attorney: Police helped to derail Freddie Gray case

After dropping the charges against the last three police officers in the Freddie Gray case a visibly frustrated Baltimore State Attorney, Marilyn Mosby held a press briefing where she discussed how some police officers helped to derail the case. Watch her press conference below.