N.C. lawmakers’ push to appoint judges raises concerns

Judges for the people

Regarding “Lawmakers weigh possibility of appointing NC judges” (Dec. 11): The idea that members of our current legislature seek to take away the vote of the people and give themselves the power to choose judges who “think like they think” is appalling. My father, Joseph E. Dupree, served as a N.C. District Court Judge from 1966-1983 (12th District). He was elected four times by the people of Hoke and Cumberland counties. The people supported his candidacy because he served the people fairly. The voters could have voted him out at each election for they maintained the power over the selection of the judiciary.

My father would not have served over 17 years if the current legislative body’s ideas had been in play in 1966. He had no law degree (N.C. State Trooper 14 years, Hoke Recorders Court Judge 2 years), was certainly not wealthy and belonged to the “wrong” political party. He had common sense and a sense of fairness to all. He was a “People’s Judge” beholden only to the people.

Let’s not allow our freedoms and choices to be controlled by the wealthy and self-serving individuals who propose changing our state’s constitution to enhance their own prosperity. Judges should be chosen by the people, not by a wealthy few.

N.C. ‘reform’?

Regarding “Lawmakers weigh possibility of appointing NC judges” (Dec. 11): I see that the N.C. General Assembly is again busy at work, this time attempting to change the way judges are selected and/or elected. Apparently Senate leader Phil Berger feels that the great unwashed out here are incapable of placing judges acceptable to the legislature on the bench.

Berger’s select committee on reform might be a positive step in an effort to reduce the size of government, a key part of making America great again. With reduction of the state government to just the executive and legislative branches the savings will be significant, allowing further tax cuts. In fact, with the legislature pretty much controlling everything through the veto process, why do we even need an executive branch? More savings to be passed on to us out here in the boonies.

But let’s not stop there. Why bother with elections at all? Berger and his fellow Republicans obviously know what is best for us and they could simply select and appoint whomever they feel would best represent us out here. Think again of the cost savings. My taxes could be filled out on a 3x5 card in five minutes. I hope my ideas will be heard way over there on Jones Street, but I’ll bet they have already surfaced behind closed doors late at night.

‘Wake up,’ NC

North Carolina voters, pay attention to Poland. In “Polish govt gets more power over the courts, defying EU” (Dec. 9), it was reported their legislature has decided to “make Poland’s courts more efficient and more accountable to citizens by giving elected representatives a role in choosing judges.”

Sound familiar? That’s exactly what N.C. legislators intend to do. The problem: European Union officials rightly warned Poland that its new laws “contravene democratic norms”: norms like judiciary independence and separation of the powers of legislative and judicial branches of government. Wake up, North Carolina, and stop our extremist lawmakers from going down a path which destroys democracy and makes judges beholden to legislators.

GOP ‘power-grabbing’

Regarding “Lawmakers weigh possibility of appointing NC judges” (Dec. 11): We all know that power-grabbing is rampant in politics, regardless of whose party is in control. Personally, I think the Republican Party in N.C. excels. The North Carolina General Assembly’s move (notion, at this point) to require state judges to stand for election every two years, to say nothing about eliminating judicial primaries, turns judges into politicians who will spend their terms looking for campaign contributions instead of looking after the law and makes a mockery out of the precept of separation of powers which is fundamental to any democratic form of government.

Other ideas floating around in the N.C. General Assembly include new election districts and abandoning the election of judges in favor of a selection system. The former is just another piece of gerrymandering spaghetti-lines that the Republicans have already been called to account for and the latter amounts to the institution of another anachronism we’re all familiar with called the Electoral College. And, Sen. Phil Berger is inclined, according to his chief of staff, to have the selection committee be comprised in large part by members of the N.C. legislature. Talk about committing the lamb to the custody of the wolf.

This story was originally published December 16, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "N.C. lawmakers’ push to appoint judges raises concerns."