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Joseph N. Crosswhite
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Joseph N. Crosswhite is a judge for Judicial District 22A of the North Carolina 4th Superior Court Division.
Crosswhite ran for re-election for judge of the Sixth Division of the Superior Court North Carolina 22A Judicial District. He won in the general election on November 8, 2016.
Crosswhite was initially the senior resident superior court judge for the 22A Judicial District of the Sixth Division of the Superior Court in North Carolina.[1]
In 2018, the North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 717, revising the state superior court. Crosswhite's seat on the Sixth Division was absorbed into the Fourth Division.
The North Carolina Superior Courts are split into five divisions and 48 districts. Superior court judges rotate among the districts within their division every six months.[2] However, superior court judges are elected by voters in their district and must reside in the district in which they are elected.[3]
Biography
Joseph Crosswhite served in the United States Army with the JAG Corps and reached the rank of colonel.[4] He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina Law School.[5]
Elections
2016
North Carolina held general elections for local judicial offices on November 8, 2016. A primary election took place on March 15, 2016.[6] Incumbent Joseph N. Crosswhite ran unopposed in the Superior Court 6th Division District 22A general election.[7]
| North Carolina Superior Court 6th Division, District 22A, General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Joseph N. Crosswhite Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 68,449 |
| Total Votes | 68,449 | |
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Unofficial election results," accessed November 8, 2016 | ||
Selection method
- See also: Partisan election of judges
The 98 judges of the North Carolina Superior Courts are chosen in partisan elections to serve eight-year terms. From 1998 through 2016, elections for superior court judges were nonpartisan; however, on March 23, 2017, the North Carolina legislature changed the method of election to partisan elections by overriding Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of HB 100. This change was effective with the 2018 superior court elections.[8][9][10][11][12]
The chief judge of each superior court is chosen by seniority.[13]
Qualifications
To serve on a superior court, a judge must be:
Noteworthy cases
Common Cause v. Lewis (2019)
- See also: Redistricting in North Carolina
On September 3, 2019, a three-judge panel of North Carolina superior court judges – Paul C. Ridgeway, Joseph N. Crosswhite, and Alma L. Hinton – issued a unanimous ruling striking down the state's legislative district plan as an impermissible partisan gerrymander under the state constitution. In their ruling, the judges wrote, "[The] 2017 Enacted Maps, as drawn, do not permit voters to freely choose their representative, but rather representatives are choosing voters based upon sophisticated partisan sorting. It is not the free will of the people that is fairly ascertained through extreme partisan gerrymandering. Rather, it is the carefully crafted will of the map drawer that predominates."[14]
The court ordered state lawmakers to draft remedial maps by September 18, 2019, for use in the 2020 election cycle. The court indicated that it would appoint a referee to develop and recommend remedial maps to the court should the legislature fail to enact suitable remedial maps.[14]
See also
- North Carolina local trial court judicial elections, 2016
- Courts in North Carolina
- North Carolina Superior Courts
- Judicial selection in North Carolina
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ North Carolina Judicial Branch, "Joseph Crosswhite," accessed November 4, 2019
- ↑ North Carolina Judicial Branch, "North Carolina Superior Court: About," accessed October 9, 2019
- ↑ North Carolina Judicial Branch, "Court Officials: Superior Court Judges," accessed October 9, 2019
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Joseph Crosswhite," November 4, 2019
- ↑ Correction submitted via email with Joseph Crosswhite on 7/27/2013
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Election Calendar," accessed December 23, 2015
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Official candidate list," accessed December 23, 2015
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: North Carolina," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "Session Law 2015-292: House Bill 8," October 29, 2015
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Veto override means voters will know judges’ party affiliations," March 23, 2017
- ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "House Bill 100," accessed May 5, 2017
- ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "Session Law 2018-121, House Bill 717," accessed August 30, 2019
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgeneral - ↑ 14.0 14.1 North Carolina General Court of Justice – Superior Court Division – Wake County, "Common Cause v. Lewis: Judgment," September 3, 2019
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of North Carolina, Middle District of North Carolina, Western District of North Carolina
State courts:
Supreme Court of North Carolina • North Carolina Court of Appeals • North Carolina Superior Courts • North Carolina District Courts
State resources:
Courts in North Carolina • North Carolina judicial elections • Judicial selection in North Carolina
