BEGIN:VCALENDAR METHOD:PUBLISH VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:-//NONSGML Sandhills Development\, LLC//NONSGML Sugar Calendar Fe eds v3.6.0//EN X-WR-CALNAME:League of Women Voters Piedmont Triad X-WR-CALDESC:Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy. X-WR-TIMEZONE:UTC BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:UTC BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 DTSTART:20240313T053000 TZNAME:UTC END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:UTC BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 DTSTART:20240313T053000 TZNAME:UTC END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fair Elections Roundtable Meeting DESCRIPTION:The Fair Elections Roundtable currently meets on zoom. To at tend a meeting\, please email fairelections@lwvpt.org to be provided a link.\n\nFor general information on the work of this round table\, pleas e review the Fair Elections Round Table webpage on the League of Women V oters of the Piedmont website. URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/fair-elections-roundta ble-meeting/ UID:urn:uuid:c70e7aec-41f2-4786-b8fc-6c261cf31132 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20240911T173000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20240911T190000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Candidate Forum: Guil. Co. Board of Education DESCRIPTION:Lunch with the League Candidate Forum will feature two separ ate forums for Guilford County Board of Education Candidates for Distric ts 3 and 5.\n\nRegistration required. \n\nDetails and registration here : https://my.lwv.org/north-carolina/piedmont-triad/lunch-league\nmore d etails» URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/candidate-forum-guil-c o-board-of-education/ UID:urn:uuid:db80ab3f-3395-4d50-88b7-ad47535c1fe6 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20240917T120000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20240917T133000 LOCATION:706 North Greene St.\, Greensboro\, NC 27401 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lunch with the League DESCRIPTION:Criminal Justice Round Table presents: "Reflections on Secon d Chances: Criminal Justice Reform in NC"\n\nDaryl Atkinson\, J.D. of Fo rward Justice will be the guest speaker. URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/lunch-with-the-league/ UID:urn:uuid:28a80426-16f7-40c5-9778-4228382ff425 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250218T113000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250218T133000 LOCATION:First Presbyterian Mullin Life Center\n706 N. Greene St.\, Gree nsboro NC 27401 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lunch with the League DESCRIPTION:Immigration Reform Round Table presents: "Standing By Our Im migrant &\; Refugee Neighbors"\n\nCosponsored by Church World Service s\, UNCG Center for New North Carolinians\, and New Arrivals Institute.\ n\nDiscussion of Border Shut Down\, Executive Orders and Their Impact\, Community Resources\, and What You Can Do to Help. URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/lunch-with-the-league- 2/ UID:urn:uuid:d1e69267-9925-41a9-80ed-c5bf5f35d720 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250318T113000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250318T133000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Medicare for All DESCRIPTION:A Medicare for All event to bring healthcare advocates and s ingle payer supporters together.\n\nThis event is a project of National Nurses United (NNU) with support from LWVPT. League support stems from L WVNC’s mission to educate voters and the LWVUS longstanding position t hat Medicare for All\, a single payer plan\, is a “desirable approach to implement League positions on equitable access\, affordability and fi nancial feasibility.”\n\nSpace is limited. Follow the link above to re serve your spot. URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/medicare-for-all/ UID:urn:uuid:dd868328-2422-4bde-a886-b5178f09d13a STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250323T140000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250323T160000 LOCATION:1500 Barber Park Dr. Shelter 1\nGreensboro\, NC 27401 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Criminal Justice Roundtable Meeting DESCRIPTION:Contact information to attend: cjrt@lwvpt.org URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/criminal-justice-round table/ UID:urn:uuid:099c1631-96a3-491d-a7c8-bcf895117309 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250311T150000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250311T163000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Immigration Reform Roundtable Meeting DESCRIPTION:The Immigration Reform Roundtable meets the second Wednesday of each month from 11:45 to 1 p.m.\, currently on Zoom.\n\nIf you are i nterested in joining\, please contact immigrationreform@lwvpt.org. URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/immigration-reform-rou ndtable-meeting/ UID:urn:uuid:851693b3-121d-4a23-8137-e548cff771fa STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250312T113000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250312T130000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Environment Round Table DESCRIPTION:Meets 1-2 p.m.\n\nDeep Roots Community Room\n\n600 N. Eugene St.\, Greensboro\, NC 27401\n\nCome to help plan details for our Lunch with the League April 15 when Dr. Patricia Gray\,\nSteve Drew\, and Step hanie Stephens will present "Restoring the Deep River."\nMore to come. M eanwhile\, catch up on your PFAS!\n\nRSVP or for more information contac t: environment@lwvpt.org URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/environment-round-tabl e/ UID:urn:uuid:8ddada44-caee-44d9-b136-b400c3ae2a0e STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250324T130000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250324T140000 LOCATION:600 N. Eugene St.\nGreensboro\, NC 27401 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Health Round Table Meeting DESCRIPTION:The Health Round Table currently meets on Zoom. To attend a meeting\, please email health@lwvpt.org to be provided a link.\n\nFor g eneral information on the work of this round table\, please review the H ealth Round Table webpage on the League of Women Voters of the Piedmont website. URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/health-round-table-mee ting/ UID:urn:uuid:a1acb85d-f0ae-4e26-86e7-c495be6eaa1e STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250303T120000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250303T130000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Future of Environmental Protection DESCRIPTION: URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/the-future-of-environm ental-protection/ UID:urn:uuid:741248f1-961f-4332-bac9-b2f575877f13 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250325T190000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250325T200000 LOCATION:Wake Forest University END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Public Education Discussion DESCRIPTION:Discover how reduced revenue from tax cuts impacts public ed ucation.\n Understand facts about NC fiscal policy and financing of pub lic education.\n Engage in discussions on equity for public schools and funding competition\, including private school vouchers.\n Learn about updates to LWVNC positions on public education and tax policy.\n\n \nY our Voice Matters!\nHelp shape our advocacy and action at the upcoming L WVNC Convention. URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/public-education-discu ssion/ UID:urn:uuid:acb5c4ed-b2fd-4a46-af7c-e7f26fceef98 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250429T173000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250429T183000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Lunch with the League DESCRIPTION:The Environment Round Table hosts "Restoring and Improving t he Deep River."\nJoin us for a discussion on legacy pollution\, PFAS che micals\,\ncommunity engagement and how together\, we can work\nto restor e and improve the Deep River\, your drinking water source.\n\nPresenters are members of the Deep River Riverkeeper (DRRK):\nPatricia Gray\, DMA Chairperson of the Board Patricia serves as the Chairperson for the DRRK Board of Directors.\nHer career encompasses Science Research (BioMusic: animal communication/evolution of music-making\,\nNational Science Foun dation funding). She is a retired faculty member of UNC-Greensboro.\nSte ve Drew\, Board Member DRRK Steve has over 40 years of experience in wat er utility management\nand municipal government leadership. He began his career with the City of Greensboro’s Water Resources Department in 19 79\nwhere he served at all levels of technical and managerial positions until becoming Director of Water Resources in 2011.\nHe brings extensive experience as a private consultant to public water &\; wastewater ut ilities around the country.\nStephanie Stephens\, Riverkeeper DRRK Steph anie came to North Carolina in 1995. While a student at UNC-Greensboro\, \nshe became invested in improving water quality. During her undergradua te studies in Environment and Sustainability\,\nStephanie devised a stud y to investigate perceptions of tap water quality in Greensboro.\nThis s tudy was later published in the Southeastern Geographer Journal.\nShe we nt on to complete a M.S. in Environment and Sustainability at UNCG and c onducted a riverkeeper project on the Deep River.\nFor more information and to make a reservation visit: lwvpt.org/lwl/\n \; URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/lunch-with-the-league- 3/ UID:urn:uuid:aabdba63-2fae-4ef6-8615-8509219097c3 STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250415T113000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250415T133000 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Federal Judiciary Consensus Meeting DESCRIPTION:The League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad is taking p art in a consensus meeting on April 8\, 2025 for our members. LWVNC asks that we submit our consensual opinions about selected ethical issues fo r the Federal Judiciary.\n\nLeague of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad \nFederal Judiciary Study Consensus Meeting\n\nLWVUS advocacy is based o n League positions. Studies\, which are the basis of positions\, make ou r actions possible.  At the LWVUS 2024 Convention\, delegates voted to proceed with a study on the federal judiciary.  The study should be com pleted in time for a position to be announced at the LWVUS 2025 Council in June 2025.   Leagues will be meeting from February 8-April 14\, 2025 to discuss the Federal Judiciary Study information and respond to twelv e questions.\n\nThe Study includes clarifying judicial accountability\, transparency\, independence\, and ethics. The scope addresses the US Sup reme Court (SCOTUS) as well as the other Article III federal courts (94 federal district courts and 13 circuit courts of appeals).  Our positio n should be principle-based in order to ensure that it lasts for many ye ars to come and allows us to address a wide variety of issues that may a rise in future years.\n\nCurrent LWV Positions:\nImpact on Issues\, A Gu ide to Public Policy Positions of the League of Women Voters\n(available for purchase in paperback)\n\nAre the following qualities essential to an effective Federal Judiciary?\n\n1. Transparency\nThe US Supreme Court issues rulings in two ways: written opinions and orders.  There are us ually only about 70 written opinions a session.  The rest are unsigned and unexplained\, and have been called the shadow docket because they ha ve been used  recently to block or unblock many major actions (immigrat ion\, vaccinations\, environmental rights\, capital punishment\, reprodu ctive rights\, affirmative action\, racial gerrymandering\, and voting r ights).\nSCOTUS can use this shadow docket to grant “emergency relief : freezing a policy or ruling during an appeal\, or it can deny “cer t”\, refusing to hear an appeal.  The Court receives about 7\,000 pet itions for emergency appeals each year\, and recently granted about 25. The number of emergency relief hearings has increased dramatically\, a nd has meant that cases are handled on an expedited basis with limited b riefing\, no oral argument\, and resolved in unsigned orders with little or no explanation.\nThe important transparency issues the shadow docket raises are that there is no formal record of proceedings or findings of fact in a trial court\, no legal ruling on the merits from a trial or a ppellate court\, and the votes of individual justices are not reported.\ n2. Independence\nJudge Shopping (also called forum shopping or venue sh opping) is the practice of strategically choosing where a legal case is filed based on which court or judge is more likely to provide a favorabl e ruling.\nIn March 2024\, the Judicial Conference of the United States adopted new rules that would limit the use of judge shopping for cases l ooking to block state or federal laws. The new rules require that these cases be assigned a judge randomly throughout a federal district and not heard just by judges in a specific courthouse or division.  This rule is not yet being applied consistently.\nShould our courts be free from t he influence of the other branches of government\, and free from shiftin g popular and political opinion?\n3. Ethics\nThe Judicial Conference of the United States has composed and updated a Code of Conduct directed to all federal judges except SCOTUS Justices.\nThere is a complaint and di sciplinary framework for federal judges\, but not SCOTUS Justices.\nSCOT US Justices are the only members of the federal judiciary not covered by a binding code of conduct\, and the voluntary code they recently wrote has no enforcement mechanism.\n4. Should court hearings\, documents file d in the court\, and rulings for all federal cases be open and available to the public?\nCourt proceedings and rulings that are open and availab le help to preserve judicial legitimacy and provide litigants with up-to -date guidance on what the law is.\n5. Should there be an effective enfo rcement mechanism for the Federal Judiciary code of ethics at all levels \, including the process to require a judge or justice to recuse himself or herself?  Should the decision and rationale to recuse or not recuse be publicly disclosed in writing?\nJudicial integrity is exemplified by following enforceable codes of conduct with effective enforcement mecha nisms. Integrity includes avoidance of conflicts of interest or the appe arance of conflicts\; use of position for personal gain\, corruption\, o r favoritism\; proper use of recusal\; and transparent financial disclos ure.\n28 U.S.C. § 455\, includes the following restrictions: “Any jus tice\, judge\, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”\nBut for SCOTUS. each Justice makes their own decisions on when and whether to recuse. When they do\, it is typically without ex planation\, i.e.\, without transparency for or against recusal.\n6. Shou ld Federal judges and Justices be subject to the same rigorous financial disclosure requirements\, enforcement\, and penalties for all financial benefits (income\, gifts\, paid speaking engagements\, and book deals)? \nThe Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EIGA) established financial disc losure reporting requirements.\nAdditionally\, under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012\, certain filers must also submit periodic transaction reports (PTRs).\nFinancial disclosure report s are submitted annually to the Judicial Conference of the United States .\nThe reports must be made available to the public and The Courthouse E thics and Transparency Act of 2022\, requires online publication of fina ncial disclosure reports.\nIn the new Supreme Court’s Code of Conduct\ , the Court’s compliance with current Judicial Conference regulations is indicated.  But the new Code of Conduct does not itself include any enforcement mechanisms\, meaning there is no process to address alleged violations of the Code.\n7. Stability of law (precedent or stare decisis \, “to stand by things decided” in similar cases)\nStability of law promotes evenhanded\, predictable\, and consistent development of legal principles\, fosters reliance on judicial decisions\, and contributes to actual and perceived integrity of the judicial process.\nShould there b e objective decision-making\, free from bias or prejudice\, where preced ence is followed\, and everyone has equal access to the justice system?\ n8. Public perception\nImproper use of the shadow docket\, the power to grant emergency relief\, tends to delegitimize the Court.\nShould Federa l Courts respect and operate within the constitutional framework balanci ng authority with executive and legislative branches?\nShould the Suprem e Court take an active role in ensuring that the other branches of gover nment abide by the Constitution?\nIf the Supreme Court cannot enforce it s decisions\, what happens? Occasionally\, the executive branch has inte rvened to enforce controversial Supreme Court decisions.\nA crisis in le gitimacy results from politicization of the Court and the nomination pro cess\, ethics scandals\, lack of transparency in Court rulings (from inc reased reliance on the shadow docket)\, and failure of the Court to ackn owledge and respond to its growing crisis of legitimacy. URL;VALUE=URI:https://lwvpiedmonttriad.org/events/federal-judiciary-cons ensus-meeting/ UID:urn:uuid:68bf18fc-4b5e-42bd-bbe3-14ceeddbad7b STATUS:CONFIRMED ORGANIZER: DTSTAMP:20250419T173406Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20250408T190000 DTEND;TZID=UTC:20250408T203000 LOCATION:4860 Lake Jeanette Rd. END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR