Supreme Court of North Carolina justice vacancy (September 2023)
| North Carolina Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Morgan vacancy |
| Date: September 8, 2023 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Allison Riggs |
| Date: September 11, 2023 |
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) appointed Allison Riggs to the Supreme Court of North Carolina on September 11, 2023. She was sworn in the same day.
Riggs replaced Justice Michael R. Morgan, who retired on September 8, 2023. Riggs was Cooper's second nominee to the seven-member supreme court.
In North Carolina, state supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. There are eight states that use this selection method. To read more about the partisan election of judges, click here.
If a midterm vacancy occurs, the governor appoints a replacement candidate to serve until the next general election. Riggs was up for election in 2024.
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the North Carolina Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2023.
The appointee
- See also: Allison Riggs
Riggs resigned from the North Carolina Court of Appeals on September 11, 2023. She was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to the North Carolina Supreme Court on September 11, 2023 to replace Michael R. Morgan.[1] To learn more about this appointment, click here.
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in North Carolina
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a successor to serve until the next general election which is held more than 60 days after the vacancy occurs. The governor must select an appointee from a list of three recommendations provided by the executive committee of the political party with which the vacating justice was affiliated.[2] An election is then held for a full eight-year term.[3][4]
Makeup of the court
- See also: Supreme Court of North Carolina
Justices
Following Morgan's retirement, the Supreme Court of North Carolina included the following members:
| ■ Paul Martin Newby | Elected in 2004 | |
| ■ Anita Earls | Elected in 2018 | |
| ■ Richard Dietz | Elected in 2022 | |
| ■ Phil Berger Jr. | Elected in 2020 | |
| ■ Tamara Barringer | Elected in 2020 | |
| ■ Trey Allen | Elected in 2022 |
About the court
Founded in 1818, the North Carolina Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is Paul Martin Newby.
As of August 2024, one judge on the court was appointed, one was elected in a partisan election as a Democrat, and five were elected in partisan elections as Republicans.
The North Carolina Supreme Court meets in the Justice Building in Raleigh, North Carolina.[5] The chief justice sets the schedule of the court.[6]
About Justice Morgan
- See also: Michael R. Morgan
Morgan first became a member of the North Carolina Supreme Court through a nonpartisan election.[7] He was first elected to the court in 2016 to the seat vacated by Robert H. Edmunds Jr. To read more about judicial selection in North Carolina, click here.
Morgan retired on September 8, 2023. To learn more about this vacancy, click here.
Other state supreme court appointments in 2023
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2023
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2023. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2022.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ ‘’Washington Examiner‘', “North Carolina governor appoints Democratic justice to fill Supreme Court vacancy,” September 11, 2023
- ↑ Ballotpedia Election Administration Legislation Tracker, "North Carolina S382," accessed December 19, 2024
- ↑ North Carolina General Assembly, "North Carolina Constitution - Article IV," accessed September 20, 2021 (Section 19)
- ↑ The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | School of Government, "History of North Carolina Judicial Elections," August 2020
- ↑ North Carolina Judicial Branch, "History of the Justice Building," accessed September 20, 2021
- ↑ North Carolina Judicial Branch, "North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure," January 14, 2021
- ↑ At the time of Morgan's election, elections to the North Carolina Supreme Court were nonpartisan. The state adopted partisan elections for the supreme and appellate courts later in 2016.
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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
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