NC senators won’t tell me how much support they received for Judge Jackson. Why not?

NC senators

I am a registered unaffiliated voter concerned about transparency in the offices of Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis.

I called both offices to register my support for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. I asked for a summary regarding the number of calls received “for” or “against” her nomination. I was advised that their policy was to not release that data.

I did not ask for names, just numbers. Something stinks here. Transparency? Or keep constituents in the dark?

We taxpayers deserve to know the public feedback that both senators have received regarding Jackson’s nomination.

Nancy W. Shannon, Fleetwood

Court packing

In the testimony I heard during Judge Jackson’s Judiciary Committee hearings, she was asked her opinion on court packing. She replied that any decision on adding members to the court was Congress’ to make and that she was going to “stay in her lane” and not offer an opinion.

If that is the answer that Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis found unacceptable, they should make that public.

I think most North Carolinians would find it to have been a very appropriate answer. Congress should stay in its lane and the U.S. Supreme Court in its.

Jim Smith, Raleigh

Virginia Thomas

In an April 4 Opinion column reprinted in the News & Observer, George Will called the fact that Virginia Thomas directly and openly advocated for overturning the results of the 2020 election a “kerfuffle.” Thomas is the spouse of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Will wrote: “To say that she was ‘strategizing’ with the White House is akin to saying that the guy in the stadium’s upper deck yelling ‘Roll Tide!’ and shouting suggested plays is strategizing with Alabama’s football team.”

Absolutely wrong. Will employed a ridiculous analogy. Thomas is not at all in the position of a fan in the stands. Rather, she is sitting directly behind the coaching bench screaming to the line judge that the opposing team is cheating in order to steal the game. And the line judge happens to be her husband.

Brad Davis, Durham

NC schools

Regarding “NC could change how its teachers are licensed and paid. Here’s what’s on the table,” (April 6):

Never has education in North Carolina been more challenged.

Schools are struggling to place a qualified teacher in every classroom. They’re also cutting aides, counselors and nurses. With limited support and increased student needs, more is being expected of teachers.

The Leandro court case found that North Carolina does not meet the standard of providing every child a sound basic education. The state sits on a budget surplus of more than $6 billion — yet, there is major pushback not on the need, not on funds available, but who has the right to tell the legislature how to spend taxpayer money.

The State School Board must spend less time imagining paradigm shifts and better represent our struggling schools to the state legislature.

Sally Adkin, Durham

Election time

It’s election time and open season for some candidates to say that they will “fight” for us if they are elected.

I have to ask, do voters want a fighter or a negotiator in office?

I have always understood that politics is governance built on compromise. Fighters are not capable of compromise. I suggest that people vote wisely.

Fred Crouch, Wilmington

Ukraine and oil

Much attention has been paid to the effect the war in Ukraine has had on energy supplies, especially access to Russian oil and gas. Predictably there have been calls to pump and drill more.

Less attention has been paid to the way the war presents yet more reasons to end our dependence on fossil fuels.

If dire warnings from scientists and the UN that time is running out and increasingly frequent extreme weather events aren’t enough reason to transition to renewables, there is the realization that money from oil and gas helps tyrants like Vladimir Putin stay in power.

Our oil and gas addiction makes us hostage to the whims of autocrats and vulnerable to conflicts happening far away in dangerously volatile parts of the world. It is time to kick the habit.

Lynn Mitchell Kohn, Durham

This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 12:46 PM with the headline "NC senators won’t tell me how much support they received for Judge Jackson. Why not?."