COA Opinions (2/21/12)

This morning, the NC Court of Appeals published 20 opinions.  We will have more on any opionions of interest later.

Federalist Society Event on Judicial Selection in NC

The Triangle Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies will be holding an event on February 16, 2012 at Campbell Law School in Raleigh, North Carolina to discuss the various proposed changes to the way North Carolinians select the members of their judiciary.  The event will begin with a reception from 5:30-6:30 and the event running from 6:30-7:30.  Please feel free to attend.

Race for Newby Seat Shaping Up

Monday marked the official start of the 2012 campaign season in North Carolina because it was the first day when candidates could officially file to run for office. 

Although he has not official filed yet, Justice Paul Newby is running for a second term on the North Carolina Supreme Court.  Court of Appeals Judge Sam Ervin, IV has announced that he will challenge Newby for the seat. 

Although the races are officially nonpartisan, the Supreme Court is currently comprised of 4 Republicans (Martin, Edmunds, Newby, and Jackson) and three Democrats (Chief Justice Parker, Timmons-Goodson, and Hudson).  If Ervin were to defeat Newby, it would tilt the balance of the court to a majority of Democrats.

While the filing period runs until the end of the month, Justice Newby and Judge Ervin will likely be the two main candidates in the race.  Doug Clark of the Greensboro News and Record had an interesting piece on this race in his Off the Record Blog on February 2, 2012.

North Carolina Appellate Judges Mentioned as Possible Supreme Court Nominees

Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSBlog recently published a post discussing potential Supreme Court nominees if President Obama is reelected.  Among the long list of potential candidates were two members of North Carolina's appellate bench:
Read more »