Court of Appeals Coverage

NC Supreme Court gives itself vast new power

The North Carolina Supreme Court quietly gave itself new power to shape the state's laws, drawing criticism from Democratic justices who fear a 'radically destabilizing shift' in the courts.

In three sentences, NC Supreme Court gives itself vast new power

The North Carolina Supreme Court quietly gave itself new power to shape the state's laws, drawing criticism from Democratic justices who fear a 'radically destabilizing shift' in the courts.

Will Doran, WRAL state government reporter

Court Reinstates Adnan Syed’s Murder Conviction in ‘Serial’ Case and Orders New Hearing

A Maryland appeals court on Tuesday reinstated the murder conviction of Adnan Syed, the subject of the “Serial” podcast who was freed last year after he had spent 23 years fighting charges that he had killed his former high school girlfriend.

Michael Levenson and Abbie VanSickle, New York Times

Bill could delay future NC governors' efforts to replace retiring appellate judges

North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby will have to retire in four years, and another top Republican judge will have to retire even sooner. Now GOP lawmakers are proposing a bill to push back the mandatory retirement age from 72 to 76.

Will Doran, WRAL state government reporter

Court clerk thrown out of office argues (again) for re-instatement

The former Franklin County Clerk of Court, who was removed from office by the court in 2020, is trying once again to get her job back.

Cullen Browder, WRAL anchor/reporter

The Wrap @ NC Capitol: Voter ID, redistricting rulings, and 2024 polling for Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson

The week in North Carolina politics from WRAL's NC Capitol team

Cooper selects voting access advocate Allison Riggs to fill appeals court seat

Riggs will replace a Republican judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Republicans dislike her track record of challenging state voting maps.

Bryan Anderson, WRAL state government reporter

Editorial: Legislature's emails are public records, belong to the people, must be maintained

Monday, Nov. 28, 2022 -- Emails don't belong to Senate leader Phil Berger, House Speaker Tim Moore or Legislative Services Director Paul Coble. The fact that many legislative emails are by law hidden from disclosure, still they are very much PUBLIC records. They are the property of the people.

NC lawsuit on political power hampered by lost emails, delayed by procedure, lawyers say

Lawmaker emails are typically deleted after three years in North Carolina, due to a policy shift last year. Now lawyers say they want old emails for a lawsuit and can't get them.

Travis Fain, WRAL state government reporter

Banned Franklin County clerk runs again

Patricia Chastain is on next week's ballot despite being removed from office two years ago following a WRAL investigation into her involvement in a dispute between neighbors.

Decision 2022: North Carolina Supreme Court race

How do you know who to vote for in judicial elections? Ask a lawyer, court clerk or bailiff, legal experts say.

Court clerk thrown out of office following WRAL Investigation is back on the ballot

Patricia Chastain is on next week's ballot despite being removed from office two years ago following a WRAL investigation into her involvement in a dispute between neighbors.

Cullen Browder, WRAL anchor/reporter

How to judge a judge: A guide for North Carolina voters

How do you know who to vote for in judicial elections? Ask a lawyer, court clerk or bailiff, legal experts say

Travis Fain, WRAL state government reporter

How NC judicial candidates plan to confront partisan perception on Supreme Court

Republicans Trey Allen and Richard Dietz and Democrats Lucy Inman and Sam Ervin IV are vying for a pair of seats that could affect how future elections are administered.

Bryan Anderson, WRAL state government reporter

Former Person County DA convicted in wife-hiring scheme now facing bribery charges

A former Person County district attorney, already convicted in a corruption case, now faces bribery charges.

NC Supreme Court Justice flouted campaign spending laws, complaint says

State Supreme Court Justice Phil Berger Jr. and four other elected leaders may have violated state election laws by giving money to a political action committee, a campaign finance watchdog alleges.

Laura Leslie, WRAL capitol bureau chief

Franklin County clerk accused of ethical violations won't be able to return to office

An elected official in Franklin County removed from office for a series of ethical violations won't be able to return to that type of work.

WRAL Investigates

NC husband and wife fight to keep their backyard chicken coop, claiming hens as pets

The owners of four chickens are arguing that the animals should be considered pets and therefore be allowed inside their Granville County subdivision.

Jessica Patrick, WRAL multiplatform producer

NC courts face perception of partisanship

Legislative maneuvering, judicial elections and high-profile political lawsuits have prompted allegations of partisan decisions from the benches of North Carolina's highest courts.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Editorial: Jeopardizing public trust in N.C. Courts impartiality

Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021 -- As Republican legislators now jockey for how legal challenges to their gerrymandering of elections districts are handled, it only shines a brighter light on their efforts to politicize the courts. To whatever degree Republicans may look to point fingers and complain about partisanship in our state's courts, they have only to look in the mirror.

Appeals court ruling in Leandro case riddled with irregularities, critics say

Critics say Tuesday's state Court of Appeals ruling blocking disbursal of a $1.75 billion award in the Leandro school funding lawsuit violated the rules of appellate procedure.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Appeals court rules in favor of Daniel Green keeping hope for retrial alive

NC Court of Appeals Court upholds a request to reconsider the case of the man convicted of killing Michael Jordan's dad

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Charges dismissed against NC judge accused of plowing through Black Lives Matter protesters

A criminal court summons accusing a state appeals court judge of assault with a deadly weapon in Fayetteville has been dismissed, The Fayetteville Observer reports.

NC man was exonerated of one murder, but court says DNA evidence can be used against him in second one

A Greensboro man who was cleared in a 1975 homicide by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission was charged Wednesday in the death of a Pittsboro woman last year.

Matthew Burns, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor

NC court extends protections to victims of abusive same-sex relationships

The state Court of Appeals struck down a state law Thursday that limits the type of protective orders someone in a same-sex relationship could obtain against an abusive partner.

Matthew Burns, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor, & Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief