This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Read our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThere are so many aspects of daily life in North Carolina that are impacted by decisions of our court, and voters hold the power to decide ultimately who should be making those decisions, and that\u2019s just fundamental to democracy,\u201d said North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls, who is running for re-election as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
In 2022, after new districts were drawn following the 2020 census, Earls voted with the court\u2019s majority that ruled extreme partisan gerrymandering violates voters\u2019 rights under the North Carolina Constitution.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud to be a part of that majority because I think that the question is: is our democracy structured in a way that is fair to all voters, regardless of which political party they belong to, or for unaffiliated voters, how they actually vote when they go to the ballot box?\u201d said Earls. \u201cWhat matters is how they vote. Are their preferences accurately reflected in the governing body that results? And I believe that that decision would have given North Carolina a robust democracy that actually reflects the will of the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2023, the Republican majority on the court ruled 5-2 that it is beyond the authority of the judicial branch to address partisan gerrymandering claims, clearing the way for state Republicans to redraw congressional districts.<\/p>\n
Right to Education<\/h2>\n
Earlier this year, the SCONC ended the 32-year-old Leandro<\/em> litigation that originally sought to increase state funding for public schools in five lower income counties. In 1997, the court unanimously declared that the state constitution guarantees every child the right to a \u201csound, basic education.\u201d The General Assembly was ordered to provide an additional $677 million in public school spending.\u00a0 This year\u2019s ruling struck down that mandate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think public education is a core value of our state constitution,\u201d said Earls.\u00a0 \u201cWhen the court issued a final ruling in the Leandro case, it turned its back on our constitutional duty to ensure every child in North Carolina is offered a sound, basic public education. A trial court found that our children are not receiving this constitutional minimum. With the decision to end the Leandro<\/em> case and any possibility of relief for the plaintiffs, the immediate future of public education funding in North Carolina will not include the money the court ordered to be spent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe right to a sound, basic education under the state constitution is fundamental to our children\u2019s future, to our communities, to our families, to our economy and to our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n In a 2018 survey by the National Judicial College, 90 percent of judges polled said judicial independence is threatened. Earls concurs.<\/p>\n \u201cMy own sense just from my experience on the bench is that it\u2019s really the legislature that poses the greatest threat to judicial independence through their ability to threaten to impeach judges, through their changes in the Judicial Standards Commission, and the ways that the legislature has impacted issues of judicial administration,\u201d said Earls.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that by shining a light on how I think that occurs, ultimately the voters decide who sits on our court. We need to find jurists who are willing to have the backbone to carry out our constitutional role of enforcing the state constitution and not showing fear or favor to any party. That is in the oath that we take when we\u2019re sworn in. We swear not to favor the government or any other party, and we swear to apply the law equally without any distinctions or bias.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the Leandro<\/em> case and the cases that have dealt with redistricting, in particular partisan gerrymandering and issues of whether a voter ID law is intentionally racially discriminatory, I have said in my dissenting opinions, that I think the court is failing to live up to its responsibility to hold the General Assembly and hold the state government accountable to the state constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the SCONC upheld the NC Utilities Commission\u2019s 2023 decision to allow Duke Energy to raise rates over the course of three years.\u00a0 Earls had voted to reject the increase. \u201cDuke Energy will charge consumers in the western part of the state more than consumers in the eastern part of the state for identical electrical services,\u201d wrote Earls in her dissenting opinion.<\/p>\n \u201cIt raised electricity rates in order to give shareholders a higher rate of return on their investment at a time when shareholders were seeing record profits and consumers are increasingly having trouble paying their electric bills,\u201d said Earls. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not what state law requires. State law says that the rate should be set at the lowest reasonable rate taking into consideration the needs of consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n On the campaign trail, Earls is communicating that she faces the same day-to-day challenges as voters. \u201cIt\u2019s a two-way street. The campaign process should both allow voters to get to know me as a person, but also allow me to get to know a little bit more about what the people of the state are facing. What folks in the mountains are facing right now is different than northeastern North Carolina. Although, at the end of the day, people are struggling to make a living. But the nature of the barriers they\u2019re facing, and the hurdles they have to overcome might be different. And that knowledge, I think, should inform how we rule in our cases.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of that two-way street was Earls\u2019 public disclosure earlier this year about her diagnosis for breast cancer in 2025. \u201cI was surprised to learn how many women in North Carolina don\u2019t understand the importance of or sometimes are afraid of getting breast cancer screening.\u201d<\/p>\n The November mid-term elections are creating a lot of heat and light around seats in the U.S. House and Senate leaving down-ballot races somewhat in the shadows.\u00a0 However, excessive out-of-state funding is expected to be spent on the SCONC election.\u00a0 Earls is urging voters to learn about judicial candidates before they go to the polls.<\/p>\n \u201cI just strongly believe that we should make it possible for every qualified voter to cast a ballot and have that ballot counted, and it\u2019s just so important that everyone\u2019s voice gets heard,\u201d said Earls.<\/p>\n \u201cLawyers have an incredibly important role in spreading information about our court system, about what they think matters, and just across the board, I would urge attorneys to see it as part of their professional obligation to be civically engaged, no matter who they support or how they view the issues.<\/p>\n For more information, visit earls4justice.com or email team@earls4justice.com.<\/em><\/p>\n The post NC Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\nThreat to Judicial Independence<\/h2>\n
Increased Utility Rates<\/h2>\n
Two-Way Street<\/h2>\n
Everyone\u2019s Voice<\/h2>\n
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