Gov. Beverly Perdue has simply overstepped her bounds regarding the ongoing issue of the potential release of several life-sentence inmates from North Carolina's prisons. Not only has she disagreed with the rulings of the courts, but she also has undertaken a sustained campaign to discredit the decisions and to undermine public respect for the judiciary. Both her tone and her words drip with disrespect for what the judiciary provides in our system. She brought out the families and colleagues of the victims in the relevant cases to suggest that Judge Ripley Rand had not properly considered their interests. By implication, she invited the public to reject the court's decision on the same grounds.
Judges cannot defend themselves in a political arena, and they should not have to. They owe the public careful consideration of the issues and an independent decision, based solely on the facts and law. With her comments, Perdue rejects that model of justice.
As a member of the executive committee of the N.C. Advocates for Justice, I hope I speak for all attorneys on this matter. We are trustees of the system, and it is up to us to defend it.
