North Carolina GOP Drops Crusade Against Jurist Who Questioned Racial Bias, for Now

Justice Anita Earls, a Democrat and former civil rights lawyer, is no longer at risk of losing her seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court for speaking out about bias and discrimination at the highest level of the state judiciary. The Judicial Standards Commission, which includes a Republican supermajority, was investigating Earls for comments to a reporter about the lack of diverse clerks, the treatment of diverse attorneys arguing at the court, and political bias among the justices.

The commission recently closed its case against Earls, who had responded with a First Amendment lawsuit in federal court to protect her right to speak out about bias in the judiciary. A Republican-appointed judge refused to block the commission’s investigation in November, and a divided panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4^th Circuit upheld that decision. Earls had planned to appeal, but she dismissed her lawsuit on Wednesday after learning that the commission had ended its investigation.

Going forward, Earls is asking the commission to approve all of her public statements before she makes them. If it rejects any of her requests, that denial could lead to further litigation under the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

Earls has good reason to worry that the commission will continue to target her or limit her ability to speak publicly. Republican legislators have been gunning for Earls, who successfully sued them over voter suppression, since she announced her campaign in 2018. Given that conservative lawmakers recently gave themselves more power over the commission, there is strong reason to believe that this body will be further weaponized against Earls and others who are fighting for a more equitable legal system.

Republican lawmakers and judges have made big changes to North Carolina’s Judicial Standards Commission, raising serious questions about whether Republican judges are now being held to a different standard than Democrats. To outside observers, it appears that Republicans have created a judicial ethics enforcement system that targets Democrats and lets Republicans get away with anything.

The takeover of the commission started in 2021, when Paul Newby took office as chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court and swiftly fired the then-director of the ethics commission over her strict interpretation of the ethics rules. And Republican lawmakers last fall made even bigger changes to the commission. Republicans took away the state bar’s appointments to the commission and took those appointments for themselves. This gives the GOP near-total control over enforcement of judicial ethics rules.

Since these changes, the commission has been targeting Justice Earls. The commission initially investigated Earls for disclosing confidential information to the media, dismissed the case as unfounded, and then reopened it after she publicly discussed bias and discrimination at the court. Her alleged infraction was discussing the lack of diversity among the court’s clerks and lawyers who argued there. She also talked about political bias and how her colleagues treat certain oral advocates.

In response to the reopening of the investigation, Earls filed the First Amendment lawsuit. Judge William Osteen, a George W. Bush appointee whose father held his seat before him, refused to block the investigation. A panel on the 4^th Circuit upheld that decision, with another Bush-appointed judge joining a Donald Trump–appointed judge in the majority and a Bill Clinton–appointed judge dissenting.

Meanwhile, with the commission firmly in Republican hands, Chief Justice Newby appears not to worry about violating the judiciary’s ethics rules. In one crystal-clear provision, the rules state that a judge “may not personally make financial contributions” to any political candidate, unless it’s part of a “joint judicial campaign.” But in the fall of 2022, Newby gave $500 to a candidate for the Wake County school board in Raleigh. He has given similar contributions to other nonjudicial Republican candidates over the years. And he has faced no discipline.

Why would Newby violate the rules, at a time when the court faced public criticism over its ethical practices? Republicans apparently know that even flagrant violations of clear provisions aren’t going to ultimately be a problem. But Democratic judges are living in a world where vague ethics rules are being twisted and used against them.

There have been other examples of questionable conduct by Republican judges in recent years. Thanks to a 2013 change by Republican lawmakers, the entire process for adjudicating ethics charges remains a secret to the public, unless the commission recommends sanctions and the state Supreme Court agrees. We will never know if the commission recommended discipline in the face of these flagrant ethical violations, because the state Supreme Court itself has the final say.

As the months pass and no Republican judges face discipline, the commission and the court send a clear message that while the GOP isn’t bound by judicial ethics rules, Democratic judges can count on more bogus, politicized investigations.

In both Raleigh and Washington, D.C., judicial ethics are being undermined by the corruption of sitting judges. The consequences of this corruption are not merely academic. In one recent example, the Center for Public Integrity reported that Newby owns stock in a large power company and has repeatedly ruled in the company’s favor. These conflicts of interest have real impact on workers and consumers across the state.

The chief justice is sending a message to his fellow judges: As they rake in millions in campaign cash from corporations and corporate lawyers, Republicans can continue to rule in their favor without worrying about ethics investigations for any conflicts of interest.

As Earls’ experience shows, that’s not true for Democrats. There’s every reason to think Republicans will keep trying to kick Earls out of office, disregarding the 1.8 million voters who put her on the high court in 2018.

It’s imperative that citizens in North Carolina fight the weaponization of ethics rules and other illegitimate attempts to get this champion of civil rights off the court. It’s absolutely crucial to protecting the state’s democracy from those who want to undermine it.