After 2018 Elections, NC Courts Lurch Further Left

RALEIGH – Democrats of the Old North State have been in the legislative minority since the Red Wave of 2010. With their lawmaking power seemingly reduced to a minimum – Republicans held super-majority status in the General Assembly until this month – there were few outlets for the Left to wield influence. One of those outlets, however, has proven to be very effective in blocking Republican legislative moves: the courts.

North Carolina Democrats’s slogan ‘Sue ’till Blue’ was never a joke. If they couldn’t legislate, they would litigate, and that they did. It’s almost a given that Gov. Roy Cooper and Democrat activists will file lawsuits over everything from state appointments, redistricting maps, and even broadly supported Constitutional Amendments such as Voter ID.

In order for those lawsuits to be effective, though, Democrats require friendly judges that mask judicial Leftist activism in terms of judicial independence. There were quite a few of those judge across North Carolina in the last two years, but after the recent election there will be even more. That means that, despite remaining in the legislative minority, Democrats will have undue influence via the court system.

From the Raleigh News & Observer:

“When Anita Earls won a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court this past November, much attention went to how the new Democratic judge’s presence on the court might affect high-profile legal issues like gerrymandering or the ongoing power struggle between the governor and legislature. […]

“While I am grateful we have come a long way, we have much work in front of us,” Earls said.

But legal experts say while Earls’ victory got the headlines, there are actually numerous lower-profile races that could end up having a greater impact on shifting the state’s court system to the left.[…]

The more notable victories for criminal justice overhauls and more progressive stances on civil court issues, experts told The News & Observer, happened in local contests for county sheriffs and prosecutors, or in the multiple seats on the North Carolina Court of Appeals that Democrats also flipped.”

Great – a bona fide Social Justice Warrior positioned to wage a progressive war from the state supreme court, and a whole battalion of comrades filling the ranks of the lower courts to reinforce Democrats efforts to negate Republican legislative action for the next two years.

View the list of lower court wins for the Left from the News & Observer here.