North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Candidates are Interviewed

On July 28, 2006, candidates for the North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court were interviewed in Raleigh. The Court of Appeals is this state only intermediate appellate court. Fifteen judges sit in rotating panels of three, deciding only questions of law on every case appealed from the Superior and District courts except death penalty cases. Appeals can range from a parking ticket case to murder case. Cases in which there is a dissent in the Court of Appeals go to the Supreme Court as well as to those that the Supreme Court accepts for review through petition. Court of Appeals judges serve eight-year terms. The Supreme Court of North Carolina is the state's highest court, and there is no further appeal in the state from their decisions. This court has a chief justice and six associate justices who sit together as a panel in Raleigh. The Supreme Court has no jury, and it makes no determination of fact; rather, it considers error in legal procedures or in judicial interpretation of the law. Both Courts are very important to the PBA and law enforcement because of the far reaching implications of the decisions that are made. The candidates were interviewed on a wide variety of issues to include state constitutional claims, constitutional interpretations, privacy of law enforcement personnel files, the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment, due process, and first amendment protection for law enforcement officers. The candidate answers and input from the membership will be utilized to make endorsements of selected candidates for the November election.