At some point the new statewide electronic filing system is going to extend to the appellate courts. Ive been a prosecutor, so have that perspective. .key-messages li {margin-bottom: 10px;} if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; Communications: Alison Graves Carley Allensworth Abigail Campbell Sarah Groat Caitlin Vanden Boom It has been sent. .widget-value { display: block; Voter guide 2022: Chief Judge Donna Stroud, an incumbent running for reelection in a North Carolina Republican judicial primary election, on issues, bio, views. margin-top: 1em; NC Court of Appeals Judge . The Honorable Robert N. Hunter, Jr. The results have been certified. Stroud is fighting back, contrasting her decades as a judge (including 16 years on the Court of Appeals) with Freshwater Smith, a former prosecutor who has been a District Court judge since 2017. display: inline; }, See also:North Carolina intermediate appellate court elections, 2022. But there is usually someone who has. Public trust and confidence in the courts is essential to our society, and in recent years, that public trust has suffered. NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 9: Beth Freshwater-Smith (Republican), Donna Stroud (Republican) NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 10: Gale Murray Adams (Democrat), John M. Tyson (Republican) display: inline-block; defer(); tusa-race-stage-summary, tusa-person-summary, tusa-filing-dates { a[aria-expanded=true] .fa-chevron-right { display: none; } This year, with eight new justices and judges to be sworn in, if both appellate courts had done the usual in-person events, January would have been a very busy month, but our usual events were just not possible. Friday, September 23, 2022, by Chief Judge Donna Stroud. } .race_header.libertarian { A 2-1 ruling from the N.C. Court of Appeals Tuesday criticized a trial judge for limiting a defendant's in-person access to attorneys during the COVID-19 pandemic. } .non_result_row div { And everything impacts attorneys differently around the state. indicateScroll(); font-size: 12px; Courts do not determine public policy; the General Assembly sets public policy in its legislation. People who come to court are generally in some sort of trouble. Some who have worked for years in GOP politics. The messages say an attorney who clerked for Berger and two other Court of Appeals judges was among those passed over. margin-bottom: 1px; She was elected to the Court in 2006 and re-elected without opposition in 2014. .infobox p { Judge Stroud currently serves as Chief Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. background-color: #f9d334; p.survey-response {white-space: pre-line;} She assumed office in 2017. Chief Justice Beasley reached out to me in December. each party holds two seats with three incumbents (Republicans Donna Stroud and John Tyson and Democrat Darren Jackson) seeking reelection. April 5, 2022. NC climate expert weighs in. } Donate Re-Elect Chief Judge Stroud Judge Stroud 2022-10-08T21:51:03+00:00 Law & People. Newby is prohibited by the rules that govern the behavior of North Carolina judges from overtly declaring his support. 0 The legislature is the branch of government that is to make law, and the judiciary has to ensure that the laws are carried out, and I think thats why both areas are, you know, interested in each other, she said. display: inline-block; background-color: #f9f9f9; I served as a District Court judge in Wake County from 2004-2006 and practiced law from 1988 until 2004. } Chief Judge Stroud replaces Linda McGee, who retired on Dec. 31, 2020, after serving as chief judge since 2014. } Stroud worked as a lawyer with this firm until 2004. } .key-messages li:last-child { margin-bottom: 0px;} She received her bachelor's degree in government summa cum laude from Campbell University at Buies Creek in 1985. Incumbents are bolded and underlined. font-style: italic; overflow-y: auto;

} Nine-in-ten (87 percent) primary voters are undecided in the Court of Appeals race between Donna Stroud (8 percent) and Beth Freshwater Smith (4 percent). She was born and raised in Kinston, NC, and attended Campbell University. Chief Judge Donna Stroud (left) takes the oath of office while her husband holds the Bible. Donna Stroud | Republican Place of Residence: Garner, NC Education: 2014, LL.M., Judicial Studies, Duke Law School; 1988, J.D., Campbell Law School, ranked 1st in class; 1985, B.A., summa cum laude, Campbell University Occupation: Chief Judge Employer: Court of Appeals Date Admitted to the Bar: 1988 Legal/Judicial Experience: display: table; Stroud ascended to chief judge amid a series of recounts in a close race between former Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, now a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, and current Chief Justice Paul Newby, a Republican. Chief Judge Donna S. Stroud has been formally invested as Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals during a swearing-in ceremony in the Court of Appeals courtroom on Monday, January 9. background-color: green; A native of Kinston, she is a graduate of Campbell University (B.A. Having judges with wide backgrounds. 1 talking about this. Then and now, Chief Judge Donna Stroud and the plaque she received for winning the first Law Day Essay Contest in 1982. January . }; Research: Josh Altic Vojsava Ramaj I was a District Court judge, for instance, and that is useful since many appeals come from the District Courts. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. } The 2022 North Carolina Appellate Judicial Candidate Forums have been recorded and are now available for viewing. left: 0px; When asked what the term conservative means in the context of the Court of Appeals, Freshwater Smith said, That I follow the Constitution.. Court elections have become more visible with the increased use of social media and an influx of political interest and money, said Jim Drennan, a professor at the University of North Carolinas School of Government who specializes in the judiciary. 1050. Keep it Clean. Wood Trey Allen NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 9 (Republican) Beth Freshwater Smith Donna Stroud NC Court of Appeals Judge Seat 11 (Republican) Michael J. Fortunately we had the example to follow from the Supreme Courts online investitures. Judge Stroud is a fair & experienced Court of Appeals Chief Judge running to ensure our state courts enforce laws as. It's probably the most common answer, but it's true: the Bible. } magna cum laude in 1988. Her current term ends on January 1, 2031. Tell us something about yourself that our readers may be surprised to learn. The Kinston native earned her Juris Doctor from Campbell Law School. We know that abuse is going on, and if children were in school or participating in usual activities, someone may notice a problem. display: block; background-color: green; .votebox_bp_logo { See also: North Carolina judicial elections, 2014 And we have other judges who were Superior Court judges and others who have experience in other areas, which is helpful for all of us. padding-left: 0; color: white; North Carolina gained a U.S. House seat after the 2020 census and now has 14 seats. My opponent has no appellate court experience, whether as a law clerk, an attorney practicing before the North Carolina appellate courts, or as a judge. } Incumbent Donna Stroud defeated Beth Freshwater Smith in the Republican primary for North Carolina Court of Appeals on May 17, 2022. Experience is more important than ever to the work of the Court as we are updating our processes to accommodate changes created by the transition to remote work by staff during the pandemic and expanding digital processes within the Court. Court of Appeals . The Court of Appeals is a collegial court; this means that our judges must work together to decide cases, as we sit in three-judge panels. I believe our court was the first in the nation to have e-filing, so we were cutting-edge in the 1990s, but we did not expand it. I think those are going to be the most terrible situations as children come back to where they can be seen by doctors and teachers and we try to deal with those abuse and neglect cases. Chief Judge Stroud holds the highest judicial office of the Court of Appeals, which is the second highest court in the state, behind the Supreme Court of North Carolina. It was a very good session. Please be specific. As noted above, my goal is to protect public confidence and trust in the courts. Chief Judge McGee was a wonderful chief. font-weight: 100; .widget-row.Libertarian { .votebox-covid-disclaimer { We have some judges who have worked remotely even before the pandemic and others who prefer working in person. width: 100%; Shutdowns of courts during the pandemic led to backlogs of cases in many courts and in some instances the delays have meant that people must wait for months or years simply to have a case heard. font-weight: bold; But I have been using my computer to take notes since I was using my Tandy Model 4P from Radio Shack. But now it is expanding to the trial courts and eventually it will come here, which is exciting. . Maggie Brown. var nTimer = setInterval(function() { Our emergency rooms, the medical ones and the legal ones, have to work to triage the cases coming in and to deal with them as soon as possible. line-height: 1.5em; For example, I have been endorsed by many groups including the North Carolina Advocates for Justice; the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys, the Sierra Club, and the Police Benevolent Association. With two tight races certified, NC Republicans fall one vote short of total control. .mw-body #mw-content-text th.votebox-results-cell--text { That was harder than you might think. [2][5], .votebox { I have served as Chief Judge since January 2021, when I was appointed to this role by Chief Justice Paul Newby. I told the new judges that we probably raised more questions than we answered, but when you are starting out you may not even know what to ask. This is a collegial court and everyone works well together. | Freshwater Smith, a longtime prosecutor who has served as a district court judge since 2016 in Wilson, Nash and Edgecombe counties, calls herself a Christian conservative. I serve on several commissions and groups working on these issues. Judge Stroud currently serves as Chief Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. } In 1982, as a senior at Kinston High School, she won the first essay contest conducted by the NCBA Young Lawyers Division in conjunction with its Law Day celebration. With support from several of North Carolinas most powerful legislators, Freshwater Smith is running against Donna Stroud, the current chief judge of the Court of Appeals, in a Republican primary. Public financing did dramatically reduce contributions from attorneys who appear before the courts and from special interest groups. I am trained as a yoga teacher although I have never had time to teach. Those are some of the chief judges duties that I knew about coming into this role. I would have loved to have had all 15 here, which we would have done in normal circumstances. On the campaign trail, Freshwater Smith and Stroud describe themselves in similar ways: experienced and conservative. div.oneoff-scrollbox.regular { height:400px; overflow:scroll; margin:20px; padding:10px; border:1px solid gray; } (Photo by Melissa Boughton) Republican lawmakers want to reduce the Court of Appeals and nothing's going to stand in their way not even their own inaccuracies. Elections in 2023 |

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