North Carolina

North Carolina voters should pay close attention to the state courts | NC Newsline

Published

2 years ago

February 9, 2024

North Carolina voters should pay close attention to the state courts | NC Newsline

With the 2024 presidential and congressional elections on the horizon, many of us may be thinking about how these elections will impact the United States Supreme Court. Presidents nominate U.S. Supreme Court justices, and the U.S. Senate confirms these nominations, placing justices on the highest court in the land for a lifetime of consequential and precedent-setting rulings.

North Carolina voters mustn’t forget that we also have state judges issuing rulings that are equally, if not more, consequential for our state’s residents, often impacting our day-to-day lives. These judges are not appointed — we directly elect them.

Do you have the tools you need to not just make informed decisions about who you will vote for, but also to educate your family and friends about the importance of these races? Too often voters will check off the top-of-the-ticket races and leave the races further down the ballot — like judicial races — blank. In elections where the winner may just have a few hundred more votes than their opponent, every vote counts.

In North Carolina, we vote on judges for our state Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Superior Courts, and District Courts. As abortion access has been “thrown back to the states” in the wake of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Dobbs case, many readers may be familiar with the role of state supreme courts in protecting aspects of abortion access (such as in Kansas and Pennsylvania) or in further restricting access (recently in Texas), with more state decisions expected in the coming months (Wyoming and Florida).

In the late-1990’s the North Carolina State Supreme Court upheld the legislature’s anti-abortion law that severely limited the use of the state abortion fund, but the court has not really weighed in on abortion cases in the years since; many of the challenges that have been brought to our state laws typically took place in federal courts. Without the federal protection of Roe v. Wade, however, we will likely see more cases come back to our state Supreme Court.

A timely example of the impact of our state courts can be seen in recent voting rights cases. In 2023, our state Supreme Court took the extremely politicized step of reversing two voting rights rulings that it had issued just months before. While not directly addressing abortion access, we know that political gerrymandering and efforts to block people from voting directly impact reproductive rights. Without a representative and accountable government, anti-abortion lawmakers feel free to pass their restrictions over the will of the people. When our state Supreme Court overturned its own rulings on voting rights and maps last year, the only thing that had changed in either case was the composition of the court.

Who serves on the court matters.

While our state Supreme Court can rule on constitutional issues and the protection of civil rights, the lower courts also regularly have an impact on our lives and rights, including reproductive rights and healthcare. The lower courts hear criminal and civil cases, small claims, and family law proceedings, and many of us are more likely to interact with these courts rather than the higher courts. With the increasing criminalization of abortion, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare, cases involving self-managed abortion, miscarriages, stillbirths, assisting minors accessing abortion, interactions with anti-abortion protestors at clinics, and even providing information for abortion care may come before our state’s courts.

We don’t have to imagine these scenarios because they’ve been happening across the country in the wake of Dobbs, and even before the fall of Roe. As we see anti-abortion elected officials become more emboldened, it seems likely we’ll see more attempts to push their anti-abortion agenda.

For example, late last year, a North Carolina Appeals Court judge tried to insert his belief that life begins at conception into a child custody ruling (that was later withdrawn). While all judges are going to have their personal beliefs, our judicial branch is set up to provide rulings based on the constitution, legal precedents, and the foundation that we are all equal under the law. We expect the judges we elect to craft their rulings based on this foundation, not on their personal political ideology.

It’s not just abortion rights cases that will come before our state courts, of course. Challenges to discriminatory laws and practices, domestic violence cases, family law proceedings, consumer protection cases, public education funding, and voting rights lawsuits have appeared and will come back before our state courts. Our judiciary was set up to be our third branch of government and serve as a check on legislative and executive branch overreach — not to push an ideological agenda. This March and November, in the primary and general elections, the voters will have a chance to have our say in who sits on those judicial benches.

Who serves on all of our state courts has probably never been more important.

Emancipate NC, North Carolina for the People, and Pro-Choice North Carolina will be hosting a “State Courts 101” webinar on Tuesday, February 13. You can find more information and register here: https://prochoicenc.org/Courts

Source link

Click to comment

North Carolina

Duarte girl kidnapped in 2020 at 5 years old found safe in North Carolina

Published

4 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Duarte girl kidnapped in 2020 at 5 years old found safe in North Carolina

A girl who was kidnapped from Duarte in 2020 when she was just 5 years old has been found safe in North Carolina.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said it found Karen Rojas, who is now 11, on Tuesday. She was enrolled in school under an alias, according to investigators.

Authorities said she was kidnapped on June 2, 2020.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services notified Washington County law enforcement that she may be in the state.

They coordinated with several agencies, located the girl and took her into protective custody.

“These are very rare occurrences to have such a positive outcome on such an old case as this, but it reminds us that through hard work, and dedication, and cooperation, stories with positive outcomes like these can happen,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a social media post.

Due to the age of the child, further information was not immediately available.

Source link

North Carolina

These 4 Western NC towns are among WorldAtlas favorites for 2026

Published

16 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

These 4 Western NC towns are among WorldAtlas favorites for 2026

A new list from WorldAtlas named the publication’s top 10 favorite North Carolina towns of 2026, including several locations located in Western North Carolina.

Founded in 1994 by cartographer John Moen and his wife, Chris Woolwine-Moen, WorldAtlas publishes educational materials and articles on geography, sociology, demography, environment, economics, politics, and travel.

Previous Citizen Times articles have covered numerous mentions of Western North Carolina from WorldAtlas, including “idyllic” and “unpretentious” towns, scenic drives, a favorite downtown area, and more. In the new list, published March 9, WorldAtlas writers chose their all-time favorite North Carolina towns ― almost half of which were located in the western region of the state.

Here’s what WorldAtlas had to say about mountain North Carolina towns, plus the full list and more.

What to do in Banner Elk, N.C.

WorldAtlas noted the range of activities offered in Banner Elk throughout the year. The town sits in the Blue Ridge Mountains between the Sugar Mountain and Beech Mountain ski resorts. Writers highlighted the following locations and activities in Banner Elk:

Wildcat Lake, which has a lifeguarded white-sand beach and is used for swimming, non-motorized boating and fishing for largemouth bass, trout, and bluegill
Grandfather Mountain Nature Museum, a museum located at Grandfather Mountain
The Mile High Swinging Bridge, the highest suspension footbridge in the United States, which visitors can cross on foot

What to do in Blowing Rock, N.C.

Also included on the WorldAtlas list, Blowing Rock takes its name from a rock formation where the wind appears to blow upward. The list highlighted the following locations and activities in Blowing Rock:

The town’s namesake, “Blowing Rock,” is a rock formation known for views of Johns River Gorge and the surrounding forest
Fishing, spelunking and rock climbing opportunities in the area
Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, also known locally as “Cone Park,” which has hiking trails and is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Memorial Park on Main Street, where town events and concerts often take place

What to do in Brevard, N.C.

Brevard, also known as the “Land of Waterfalls,” is home to more than 200 waterfalls located across Transylvania County. WorldAtlas highlighted the following locations and activities in Brevard:

Museums, trails, rock climbing and the surrounding area’s many waterfalls
Guided Jeep and hiking tours to view waterfalls throughout Transylvania County
Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas, a museum displaying artifacts from U.S. military conflicts
Transylvania Heritage Museum, a museum focused on local history and genealogy

What to do in Hot Springs, N.C.

Hot Springs’ name comes from the natural springs that attract visitors from across the state and region. The springs are commonly visited by hikers seeking relief after traveling along the Appalachian Trail, which runs through the town. WorldAtlas highlighted the following activities and events:

Kayaking on the French Broad River
Trailfest, a celebration of hiking typically held in April
French Broad River Festival, a celebration of the French Broad River held each year on the first weekend of May
White-water rafting and ziplining opportunities in the area
Fishing, skiing, sport shooting, golf, disc golf, biking and horseback riding opportunities throughout the area
A range of accommodations including campgrounds, privately owned cabins, apartments, suites and cottages, with options from basic to luxury experiences

WorldAtlas’s best towns in North Carolina

The full list of WorldAtlas’s favorite North Carolina towns of 2026 included:

Banner Elk
Beaufort
Blowing Rock
Brevard
Davidson
Edenton
Hot Springs
Seagrove
Manteo
Wrightsville Beach

Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.

Source link

North Carolina

‘It was dire’: NC State professor returns from Qatar after being trapped during Iran war

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

‘It was dire’: NC State professor returns from Qatar after being trapped during Iran war

An North Carolina State University professor is back home Monday night after he was trapped in the Middle East as war with Iran broke out.

Rich Spontak was stuck in Qatar while traveling from Bangkok to Spain and was forced to stay in the country for about a week. Several travelers were trapped for days in the Middle East after Iran’s
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several defense leaders were
killed in joint strikes by the United States and Israel.

Spontak, like many travelers, found himself stranded in the Middle East after the initial attacks, which quickly entangled more surrounding countries, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, where seven U.S. service members were killed in retaliatory attacks from Iran.

Spontak said there were times he thought he wouldn’t make it out.

“I would just keep looking out and looking for the missiles,” Spontak said. “Some people that I met along the way were hit by shrapnel from the missles. It was dire.”

Airspace over Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and Syria remained closed, according to flight-tracking service Flightradar24. Azerbaijan also shut the southern sector of its airspace on Thursday after accusing Iran of a drone attack that injured four civilians and damaged an airport building.

Lilia Austin, a Chapel Hill woman who was part of a group of 100 women who went to Israel for a trip the day before Khamenei was killed, also returned home on Sunday after she left Israel through Egypt.

Source link