Candidate for NC District Court judge, Democrat Eric Craig Chasse, answers our questions
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Name: Eric Craig Chasse
District/seat: District 10E, Seat 3 (Wake County)
Political party: Democrat
Age as of March 5, 2024: 55
Campaign website: www.judgechasse.com
Current occupation: District Court Judge
Professional experience: Before ascending to the bench I spent 14 years engaged in a varied, general private practice of law, including family law, civil litigation and criminal defense. As a judge I have since presided in most every courtroom in Wake County, including both juvenile delinquency and abuse/neglect/dependency courts, child support and civil domestic violence courts. I currently serve in various criminal settings, adjudicating felony pleas, first appearances and criminal domestic violence cases.
Education: UNC-Chapel Hill, BA in Political Science and Economics, 1990; Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William & Mary, JD, 1993
What areas of the law do you have experience in, as a judge or attorney?
Criminal, civil litigation, government/public interest and family law.
What is your judicial philosophy?
Aside from the obvious, administering justice without favor or agenda in every case I hear, my judicial philosophy is guided by one simple truism: every person who enters my courtroom, whether litigants, attorneys, staff, witnesses or law enforcement, is to be treated with courtesy and respect. Ours may be an adversarial system, but I am firmly committed to the ideal that an adversarial system is not incongruous with simple human decency, whatever the subject matter before the court.
Tell us about a specific event in your legal career of which you are most proud.
Over 30 years, I am perhaps most proud of a Termination of Parental Rights trial over which I presided, wherein there were ample grounds to sever the legal bond between two parents and their children forever. Rather than grant the petition to terminate, I made a different call, beginning reunification efforts anew. Ultimately, after a lot of hard work, mom and dad were finally able to regain custody. In a forum with precious few feel-good moments, it was extremely gratifying to be a small part of a storybook ending.
To what extent should judges be allowed to share their thoughts on political issues in public?
The Code of Judicial Conduct governs the comportment of all sitting judges; for nearly 17 years I have aspired to its directives both on and off the bench, particularly as to promoting public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. As regards my thoughts on political issues, I have not felt stifled by these canons in the least. The fact that I can speak freely of course does not connote that I should; as an elected official, discretion often controls when politics arise.
