Courts


North Carolina Democrats have held several press conferences defending NC Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls, including this one with Rep. Renée Price and other officials on Aug. 30. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson)
NC Supreme Court Justice Says Investigation Violates Her First Amendment Rights

Anita Earls, the only Black woman on the North Carolina Supreme Court, is being investigated by the state judicial watchdog for criticizing the court’s lack of diversity. In June, the only Black woman on the North Carolina Supreme Court described the lack of diversity in the state court system and said she’d often felt “very...

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, right, appoints State Court of Appeals Judge Allison Riggs, left, to the North Carolina Supreme Court to fill a vacancy, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023, at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum)
Cooper Appoints Former Voting Rights Attorney to NC Supreme Court

Before she became a judge, Allison Riggs had been heavily involved for more than a decade in litigation to block Republican redistricting maps and laws requiring photo identification to cast ballots.

Protesters attend a 2019 anti-gerrymandering rally   in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Democratic NC Supreme Court Justice Won’t Seek Re-Election

Justice Michael Morgan’s announcement highlights the consequences of judicial elections on issues like abortion rights, voting, and gerrymandering.

E. Jean Carroll, second from right, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in New York.  A jury in New York City is set to begin deliberations in a civil trial over Carroll’s claims that Donald Trump raped her in a luxury Manhattan department store. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Trump Found Liable of Sexual Abuse and Defamation in Civil Rape Trial

A jury awarded magazine writer E. Jean Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Since this was a civil case, however, the former president will not face jail time.

Reggie Weaver speaks outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C, on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson, File)
NC Supreme Court OKs Partisan Gerrymandering and Voter ID Laws

The decisions, reversals of the court's previous rulings, give the Republican-controlled General Assembly the ability to entrench their power, without checks or balances. 

FILE - Associate Justice Clarence Thomas joins other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a new group portrait, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. Conservative mega-donor Harlan Crow purchased three properties belonging to Thomas and his family, in a transaction worth more than $100,000 that Thomas never reported, according to the non-profit investigative journalism organization ProPublica on Thursday, April 13, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Clarence Thomas’ ‘Corruption’ Scandal Grows Even Bigger

A new report highlighting Thomas' close ties with Harlan Crow will likely refresh calls for an investigation into the relationship between the Supreme Court justice and the billionaire mega-donor.

FILE - Three members of the Women's March group protest in support of access to abortion medication outside the Federal Courthouse on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 in Amarillo, Texas. Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Texas judge who sparked a legal firestorm with an unprecedented ruling halting approval of the nation's most common method of abortion, Friday, April 7, 2023, is a former attorney for a religious liberty legal group with a long history pushing conservative causes. (AP Photo/David Erickson)
What the Latest Abortion Pill Ruling Means for You

The 5th Circuit’s ruling maintains mifepristone’s availability for now, but severely limits access in ways that could harm patients seeking abortion care.