Unfortunately, in NC all the justices in our state system are elected. The only time a governor can appoint justices is if they resign, retire or die.
Not only have Republicans made judicial races openly partisan, but they also recently overrode outgoing Governor Cooper's veto on a law forcing the governor to appoint replacement justices …
Unfortunately, in NC all the justices in our state system are elected. The only time a governor can appoint justices is if they resign, retire or die.
Not only have Republicans made judicial races openly partisan, but they also recently overrode outgoing Governor Cooper's veto on a law forcing the governor to appoint replacement justices of the same party as outgoing justices (like a day or two before their supermajority went sayonara). Meaning that if one of the GOP justices on the SCONC were to die or retire, Gov Stein can't replace fill the vacancy with one of his choosing. He has to choose from three candidates picked by the NC GOP.
If the control of SCONC flips back to Dem control in 2028, redraws the maps and Dems recapture the state legislature -- there needs to be MASSIVE overhaul during that trifecta. I hope Phil Berger is still around to get demoted to minority leader and see everything he and Tim Moore forced through get gutted and undone.
Riggs and Earls have said outright that if the court switches back after 2028, they will revisit the gerrymandered state and Congressional maps.
And the only way to get an independent redistricting commission here in NC if it's a law passed by lawmakers or legislatively referred constitutional amendment (which has to pass by 60% in both houses before going to voters). Since Rs have that gerrymandered majority, they won't do it. They'll have to be forced by court order to redraw the maps.
That just sounds like chaos to me. At least in my experience, judicial races in NY are extremely boring and I never really hear about Republican judges making insane rulings, in part because everyone knows the Governor's race is really where statewide judicial politics is litigated.
To put it another way, judicial elections shouldn't be about making policy, which is what these high court elections in various states seem to be now.
NC GOP is power hungry as can be and chaos is what they do and LOVE. They do EVERYTHING possible to entrench their power. They got rid of straight party voting because it benefits Democrats, they got rid of a three-day grace period for absentee ballots postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted.
And what's really egregious is that they took away the governor's power to appoint members of the NCSBE and gave it to the state auditor (a Republican). And that was after being rejected by federal judges AND voters over years of court battles. That auditor has now appointed three Republicans (with Phil Berger's approval), kept two Democrats and got rid of election director Karen Brinson Bell -- a holdover from Cooper/Stein.
The Court of Appeals did make some bad rulings, but no, nothing insane. Cuomo was essentially a moderate Republican, and even Pataki was not an extremist, so there would be little reason for the New York Court of Appeals to make an insane ruling.
Unfortunately, in NC all the justices in our state system are elected. The only time a governor can appoint justices is if they resign, retire or die.
Not only have Republicans made judicial races openly partisan, but they also recently overrode outgoing Governor Cooper's veto on a law forcing the governor to appoint replacement justices of the same party as outgoing justices (like a day or two before their supermajority went sayonara). Meaning that if one of the GOP justices on the SCONC were to die or retire, Gov Stein can't replace fill the vacancy with one of his choosing. He has to choose from three candidates picked by the NC GOP.
If the control of SCONC flips back to Dem control in 2028, redraws the maps and Dems recapture the state legislature -- there needs to be MASSIVE overhaul during that trifecta. I hope Phil Berger is still around to get demoted to minority leader and see everything he and Tim Moore forced through get gutted and undone.
The overhaul should include independent redistricting for sure. We can’t have another 2010-2011 situation.
Riggs and Earls have said outright that if the court switches back after 2028, they will revisit the gerrymandered state and Congressional maps.
And the only way to get an independent redistricting commission here in NC if it's a law passed by lawmakers or legislatively referred constitutional amendment (which has to pass by 60% in both houses before going to voters). Since Rs have that gerrymandered majority, they won't do it. They'll have to be forced by court order to redraw the maps.
That just sounds like chaos to me. At least in my experience, judicial races in NY are extremely boring and I never really hear about Republican judges making insane rulings, in part because everyone knows the Governor's race is really where statewide judicial politics is litigated.
To put it another way, judicial elections shouldn't be about making policy, which is what these high court elections in various states seem to be now.
NC GOP is power hungry as can be and chaos is what they do and LOVE. They do EVERYTHING possible to entrench their power. They got rid of straight party voting because it benefits Democrats, they got rid of a three-day grace period for absentee ballots postmarked on or before Election Day to be counted.
And what's really egregious is that they took away the governor's power to appoint members of the NCSBE and gave it to the state auditor (a Republican). And that was after being rejected by federal judges AND voters over years of court battles. That auditor has now appointed three Republicans (with Phil Berger's approval), kept two Democrats and got rid of election director Karen Brinson Bell -- a holdover from Cooper/Stein.
Because I assume not everyone will know what the NCSBE is, as I didn't: https://www.ncsbe.gov/ North Carolina State Board of Elections.
The Court of Appeals did make some bad rulings, but no, nothing insane. Cuomo was essentially a moderate Republican, and even Pataki was not an extremist, so there would be little reason for the New York Court of Appeals to make an insane ruling.