NC House Democrats propose 3 judicial constitutional amendments
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- House Democrats filed three constitutional amendments targeting judges and lawmakers.
- HB 1236 would give the governor, state bar and chief justice five appointments each.
- HB 1235 would bar votes until bills are posted 48 hours and limit bills to one topic.
Good morning! Welcome to Under the Dome, your daily dose of politics news delivered straight to your inbox. I’m legislative and lobbying reporter Esther Frances with a write-up from democracy reporter Kyle Ingram.
Constitutional amendments
North Carolina House Democrats on Wednesday unveiled three wide-ranging constitutional amendments intended to impose new ethical requirements on judges and lawmakers and reshape the body that disciplines judges.
“We believe these amendments are critically needed and are meant to correct serious concerns that we have about the fair and impartial administration of justice in North Carolina,” Rep. Marcia Morey, of Durham, said.
Morey’s amendment, filed as House Bill 1236, would restructure the Judicial Standards Commission, which investigates complaints against judges. Currently, the Democratic governor has only two appointments to the body, with the remaining members being appointed by the Republican chief justice or the Republican-led General Assembly.
HB 1236 would ask voters to approve a new structure wherein the governor, state bar and chief justice would each be given five appointments.
Morey said the change was necessary to combat the “weaponization” of the commission, which she said had been wielded against Democrats. In 2023, the commission investigated Democratic Justice Anita Earls over statements she made about diversity in the court system. The probe was later dropped after she sued.
Another constitutional amendment, proposed as HB 1235 by Rep. Phil Rubin of Wake County, would curtail the legislature’s ability to strip power from the governor — a goal the Republican majority has gradually chipped away at for over a decade.
It would also target the legislature’s frequent tactic of passing sweeping legislation with little to no public notice in a process that does not allow for amendments. Lawmakers would be prohibited from voting on legislation until it had been available for the public to read for at least 48 hours. It would also limit lawmakers to one topic per bill.
“We’ve watched a really troubling and calculated pattern emerge in Raleigh,” Rubin said. “Time and again, you see legislative majorities using lame-duck sessions and midnight votes to rewrite bills that bypass public involvement and seize authority that voters had just explicitly assigned to the executive branch.”
In late 2024, Republicans tacked a sweeping slate of provisions to a Hurricane Helene relief bill that stripped power from newly elected Democrats, including Gov. Josh Stein.
The final amendment, proposed by Rep. Deb Butler, of New Hanover County, would set out specific guidelines for when Supreme Court justices are required to recuse themselves from cases. These would include if the justice has a financial interest in the case or has close relationships to the parties.
Justice Phil Berger Jr., a Republican, has frequently declined to recuse himself in cases involving his father, who is the Senate president pro tempore.
“The purpose of this amendment is not to punish anybody, it’s not to accuse, it’s not to relitigate the past, it is to strengthen public confidence moving forward,” Butler said. “When questions arise about whether a justice should participate in a case involving major political actors, close family relationships, significant financial interests, or matters in which the justice had direct involvement, the public should not have to rely solely on that judge’s discretion.”
The amendments are highly unlikely to be taken up by the Republican-controlled legislature.
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That’s all for now
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