Unless
you have been under a rock, you know that November 6th is rapidly
approaching and everybody running wants your vote. It’s pretty easy to stay informed about the
candidates and issues involved in the big races for president or governor;
however, a lot of voters simply don’t get the information they need to make an
informed decision in our State’s judicial races. This certainly isn’t the voters fault. Most voters have never had any interaction
with our judicial system and understandably do not want to. Also, judicial elections in North Carolina
are non-partisan which means the candidates do not run on any party’s ticket so
they do not have attached labels that go along with them.
This
year there are several races throughout the state for District and Superior
Court Judge. Basically, a District Court
judge hears a wide variety of cases ranging from divorce/family court, juvenile
delinquency, criminal misdemeanors and civil cases involving less than
$10,000.00. Superior Court Judges mainly
hear matters involving civil matters usually in excess of $10,000.00 and felony
criminal matters. A really useful tool
has been created this year by the North Carolina Bar Association. The NCBA sent out surveys to all attorneys
throughout the state earlier this year that asked very important questions
about the candidates running for these judicial seats. The evaluations were then taken by the NCBA
and published in an easy to read format.
These evaluations can be found at www.electncjudges.org
and it only takes a few minutes to locate your county of residence and in a few
clicks of the mouse you can see who the candidates are and what the attorneys
that practice and work with them on a daily basis think about their
qualifications to serve as a judge.
In
addition to the races for District and Superior Court Judge, there are four
races for seats on our State’s appellate courts. The appellate courts basically serve as a
safeguard to ensure that laws and procedures are applied fairly and properly in
the lower trial courts. There are three
seats up for election on our Court of Appeals.
First, Chris Dillon is challenging incumbent Cressie Thigpen, David
Robinson is challenging incumbent Linda McGee and Martin McGee is challenging
incumbent Wanda Bryant.
There
is one race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. You may have heard a little something about
this race between incumbent Paul Newby and Sam Ervin, who currently sits on the
Court of Appeals. Many have called this
race the second most important election in our whole state behind the
governor’s race. Although this race is
non-partisan, there is a widespread belief that the outcome will potentially
influence how our legislative districts are mapped out in the future.
Everyone
should make their own decision about these races. Our judges hold a great deal of power and
make extremely important decisions that can impact all of us. It is each voter’s responsibility to find out
all they can about each candidate and vote their conscience. As always, the most important thing is to get
out and vote!
-Article
written by Mark Herring, a partner with White & Allen, P.A. in Kinston,
N.C. concentrating in both criminal and civil litigation
