RALEIGH, --Civil rights groups are marking the 50^th anniversary of the killing of Medgar Evers, who, then the field secretary for the NAACP. It was considered a milestone of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.  But, those groups are  also using the event to criticize current political decisions, but not everyone agrees with their position.

The event Wednesday has been organized in part by the Rev. Dr. William Barber, who heads the North Carolina NAACP. Barber is also one of the people behind "Moral Mondays," an ongoing citizens' demonstration at the Capitol to protest some lawmakers' recent decisions.

"They are unconstitutional when they meet with all these folks in private, because our Constitution says that secret societies are a danger to our liberties," he said. "Eighty-six people are trying to run roughshod over our Constitution."

Thousands have attended the demonstrations, and almost 400 have been arrested. Barber said citizens have a moral responsibility to call attention to policy decisions, including lawmakers' choice to not hear public testimony on their decision to turn down federal funds to expand Medicaid.

Candler resident Leslie Boyd, one of those arrested in the Moral Monday protests, said she's motivated by the death of her son, which she blames on a lack of proper insurance coverage because of a pre-existing medical condition.

"When people die because they have something that's treatable, but it's allowed to get to the point where it kills them - that, to me, is state-sponsored murder," she said. "If I do nothing, I'm part of the problem."

Barber said she believes current policies that lawmakers are pursuing for North Carolina are unjust and don't reflect the politics of the 21st century.

"This is Old South politics," she said, "and now (state House speaker Tom) Tillis, (state Senate leader Phil) Berger and Gov. (Pat) McCrory have decided they're going to be like the George Wallace of the 21st century with a new-age twist. They're going to stand in the door of opportunity on health care, on education, on voting rights."

Barber was referring to Democratic Gov. George Wallace, then governor of Alabama, stood in front of a doorway at the University of Alabama in 1963 in an attempt to prevent desegregation at the school. He later ran as an Independent candidate for president in 1968 on a states rights platform and again as a Democrat in 1972 before surviving an assassination attempt and becoming paralyzed from the waist down.

The protests at the capitol have drawn criticism, some who say that those from outside North Carolina are participatng and the protests are illegal. Others, including Republican Governor Pat McCrory and Democratic local prosecutor Colon Willoughby are questioning the expense involved in the weekly series of arrests.

Republican Party Chairman Claude Pope, who spoke with Donna Martinez for this weekend’s edition of People In Politics on NCN, says the protests are “direct partisan attacks.”

Barber said protestors are objecting to cuts to education, the repeal of the Racial Justice Act and changes to voting rights in the state. He added that Moral Monday actions will continue.

(With Information from North Carolina News Service)