Tag Archive for: #nccourtofappeals

TownTalk: Judge Arrowood Ready for Re-Election Campaign

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N.C. Court of Appeals Judge John S. Arrowood is seeking to retain his Seat 1 spot on the 15-judge court. Arrowood, a Yancey County native, has been appointed twice to the court, once in 2007 by then-Gov. Mike Easley and again in 2017 by former Gov. Roy Cooper. He ran for the seat in 2018 and is seeking re-election in the November contest and faces Republican challenger Michael Byrne.

The Court of Appeals consists of 15 judges who sit in panels of three, Arrowood explained on Wednesday’s TownTalk. These panels dispose of between 1,200 and 1,500 cases each year and hear cases two weeks out of each month. The court hears all criminal cases – except death penalty cases – and all civil cases except those that come from business court, Arrowood said. They also hear many administrative law cases.

Until 2023, any split votes from the N.C. Court of Appeals could automatically be appealed to the N.C. Supreme Court, but the Legislature changed that so now the state Supreme Court must vote to hear the case. By comparison, the state Supreme Court hears somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 cases a year.

That’s just one reason the Appeals Court is considered the court of last resort, he said. The cases split generally fifty-fifty in criminal versus civil cases.

During COVID, cases dropped considerably, but they’re working their way back up, Arrowood noted.

He’s served on the Court of Appeals for a little over 10 years, and of the 15 seated judges, he’s the fifth-most senior judge.

“There’s been a lot of change in the court,” he said, referring to the turnover. “As there’s been change, things have slowed down,” referring to the pace at which the court renders its decisions.

Arrowood is one of three Democrats on the 15-judge court, but he said in the majority of cases he hears, the decision is unanimous. And when they’re not, it’s not divided by party affiliation. “Politics shouldn’t factor in at all to what you do in the job,” he said. “My whole philosophy is that we are there to protect the rule of law, to provide equal justice, to provide our citizens and to protect their constitutional rights, both under the state and federal constitution, and that we are there as a check and balance.”

With more than 25 years as a civil litigator with a Charlotte law firm as well as being a staff member on the Court of Appeals prior to joining private practice, Arrowood said he has the background for understanding how the court system works – and how it should work.

“We have an obligation as judges to do our work timely, to move things along,” he said. New, less-experienced judges can adversely affect the court’s timeline.

“If they’ve got a case at the court, obviously they want to win, but they also want to know if they’re not going to win” so they can make plans about their futures or their businesses.

It’s important not only to do the work correctly, but timely as well.

He credits his late father for instilling in him and his older brother the idea of being active and giving back.

Arrowood recalls the story his dad proudly told about how he had worked to sell road bonds back in the late 1940’s to get one of the first roads paved where he lived.

“He was pretty politically active and pretty civic-minded,” Arrowood said of his father. “He wanted his sons to, as he would say, give back to the community they lived in.”

The Arrowood brothers lost both parents – their mother to cancer and their father to a stroke – when the younger Arrowood was just 15, and so he went to live with his brother – older by 12 and a half years and already a Highway Patrolman.

He graduated magna cum laude from Catawba College, then law school at UNC-CH. His father had impressed on him the importance of getting a good education, so he could have a better life than what had been available to him, Arrowood said.

“I had great teachers who pushed me hard to be the absolute maximum I could be,” Arrowood recalled. And more than one suggested that he may be interested in becoming a lawyer.

Find out more at www.keepjudgearrowood.com

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TownTalk: Byrne Running For NC Court of Appeals

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When it comes to local contests, voters may not need much time to decide who they’re going to support at election time. But statewide contests – like the N.C. Court of Appeals, for example – may cause voters to spend a few minutes longer at the polls before deciding who to vote for.

Michael Byrne is the Republican nominee whose name will appear on the November ballot. He faces incumbent John Arrowood, who was appointed to the court in 2017, for Seat 1 on the 15-judge court.

Byrne, 59, has been an administrative law judge for the past six years, and he said that experience, coupled with close to 20 years focused narrowly on representing state employees and police officers, gives him the skill set needed to be an effective court of appeals judge.

Appeals Court judges serve an eight-year term, Byrne explained on Monday’s TownTalk, and the N.C. Court of Appeals is the second highest court in the state behind the State Supreme Court.

Byrne said 85 percent of cases end at the N.C. Court of Appeals level.

As an attorney, Byrne said he’s argued more than 20 cases at both the state Supreme Court and appellate level – “I was fortunate,” he said. “I never lost a law enforcement case on appeal.”

The 15 appellate judges cover the entire state and usually hear and deal with more than 1,000 cases a year.

Compared to the state Supreme Court, that’s a lot. Appellate judges have to be able to do their jobs quickly and efficiently, he said.

Similarly, administrative court judges handle a lot of cases, too. Byrne said he’s issued more than 400 decisions; the 10 that went to the court of appeals were all unanimously affirmed, he added.

He announced his candidacy one year ago, and since then, he’s been putting lots of miles on his trusty Volvo station wagon as he travels the state meeting people and campaigning.

And although he’s been a registered Republican since he was 18, Byrne said political affiliation plays no role in his work as a judge.

“My number one concern is fairness and due process for everyone,” he said. “I’m never going to let political considerations affect a ruling that I make. The law’s the law for everyone.”

His philosophy is simple, he said, something he learned from his mentor Julian Mann: “Get it right.” My overall saying is ‘A fair judge. Period. For everyone. Period.’”

More than anything else, people want to know that the judge that’s hearing their case is fair, he said, that they don’t favor one side or the other.

Byrne said he hears cases involving agencies that have been headed by Democrats and others by Republicans.

“The difference in the way I treat them is nothing,” Byrne said. “Because the law’s the same for everybody.”

You can learn more about Byrne and his candidacy at www.mb4nc.com and about all contests in the upcoming November elections at https://ncvoterguide.org/ and https://ncvoterguide.org/profiles/

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TownTalk: N.C. Court Of Appeals Seat 12 Contest

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The following is part of WIZS’s continuing coverage of the upcoming general election on Nov. 5. In-person early voting begins Thursday, Oct. 17 and runs through Saturday, Nov. 2.

Carolyn Thompson

The N.C. Court of Appeals is the second-highest court in the state, and as the name implies, the 15 judges that make up the court sit on three-member panels to review lower court rulings.

Judge Carolyn J. Thompson was appointed to Seat 12 in September 2023 by Gov. Roy Cooper, and she’s on the ballot in the upcoming election to retain that seat.

The State Supreme Court is the highest court in the state, but the majority of cases are determined by the court of appeals and go no further, Thompson explained.

Opinions coming from the appeals court impact the entire state, she said. “It’s a last resort for a lot of cases,” she added. “We are an error-correcting court,” she said.

The judicial races are statewide races and the judges serve 8-year terms.

She said she’s the best candidate for the job because she has extensive legal and judicial experience, and she’s “already there, doing the hard work for all of North Carolina… I uphold the law and the Constitution equally – it doesn’t matter your ZIP code or your background.”

She suffered a narrow defeat in 2022 in her bid for a seat on the court of appeals, and before her most recent reappointment to the appellate court, spent about nine months as deputy commissioner of the N.C. Industrial Commission, which she described as a quasi-judicial role that hears workers’ compensation issues and cases of tort claims from incarcerated people.

Over the past year, Thompson said she’s written 96 opinions for cases she and her fellow judges on the panel have heard.

The panels get about 30 cases per month, and Thompson said she’s required to author at least eight. Her 27 years of experience on both sides of the bench, Thompson said, gives her knowledge of criminal, domestic and civil cases. “You can only do that kind of work when you’ve been experienced in it,” she said.

There’s no room for partisan politics in the decisions made by the appellate court. “We never even know party affiliations…we just see issues that need answers,” she said.

Although state law requires judicial candidates to list their party affiliation, Thompson, a Democrat, said she doesn’t allow political rhetoric to interfere with her work on the appellate court.

“We have to stay independent,” she said. “We are an independent branch of government.”

With her roots working for women and children in domestic court, Thompson said she’s a longtime advocate for survivors of domestic violence.

“I can’t serve in that capacity any more because I’m now a judge ruling in cases…once you become a judge you can’t practice law any more.”

Thompson, a licensed and ordained minister, is the author of “Abigail’s Veil: A Domestic Violence Handbook for Clergy and Church Leaders.

She gives credits to her family for helping her stay focused. She’s a wife, a mom and a grandmother, and those roles are as important to her as her role as judge.

“They keep me centered,” she said. “They keep me focused on why it’s important to fight for justice.”

Visit https://judgecarolynthompson.com/ to learn more about the candidate and visit https://www.nccourts.gov/ to read some of her opinions and find a livestream link to the hearings.

Tom Murry

Tom Murry describes himself as a conservative who believes that the original words of the Constitution mean what they say.

Murry is a candidate for Seat 12 of the N.C. Court of Appeals, a seat currently held by Judge Carolyn Thompson. Thompson was appointed in September 2023 to that seat, and state law requires that she be elected to keep it.

As her challenger, Murry said his experience as an attorney and an assistant district attorney – as well as time spent on the Morrisville Town Council and in the N.C. House – would help him in his role as appellate court judge.

“I understand the three branches of government,” Murry said. “I think I can stay in my lane as a judge.”

When he was a law student at Campbell University, he said he got to see a three-judge panel in action. And, as a prosecutor for the 11th Prosecutorial District, he had a case that was appealed – and affirmed – by the very court that he now seeks to join.

Murry said half of the cases that come to the N.C. Court of Appeals are criminal cases, and he said his time as a prosecutor will help him if he is elected. He has experience working in the courtroom and working with local law enforcement.

State law requires that judicial candidates’ party affiliations be included on ballots, but Murry said there’s no place for partisan politics in the courtroom.

“I’m going to be listed as a Republican on the ballot,” Murry said, but as a judge, he will wear a black robe. Like the camouflage he dons on National Guard Drill Weekends, the robe is neither blue nor red, he said.

“When judges issue rulings based on their political views it undermines the public’s trust in our courts. It’s extremely concerning to me. There are other branches of government that are responsible for policy and making the law. Judges need to be restrained and focused on the issues at hand, not how they want them to be,” Murry said.

“I believe that Lady Justice has a blindfold for a reason,” he said, adding that he will administer the law “without favor, delay or denial…same facts, same law, same outcome – that’s equal protection under the law and that’s what we’re called to do.”

Visit https://www.jointom.com/ to learn more.

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TownTalk: Carolyn Thompson NC Court Of Appeals Candidate

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-The following is part of WIZS’s continuing coverage of candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

As a candidate for a seat on the NC Court of Appeals, Carolyn Thompson said it is her considerable experience as a trial attorney and as a district court judge that will serve her well if she is elected in the November 8 elections.

Thompson has 26 years’ experience as an attorney and judge, and she has advocated for victims of domestic violence and abuse during that time. She began practicing law in Vance County in 1996 and was a district court judge serving Vance, Granville, Warren and Franklin counties from 2009 to 2018. In 2018, Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Thompson to fill the unexpired term of a retiring Superior Court judge. She was defeated in her bid for the judgeship later in 2018, and now has set her sights on a statewide race.

Thompson is running for Seat 8 on the 15-member court of appeals. Judges sit in panels of three judges each, she told John C. Rose on Tuesday’s TownTalk. “If you’re not getting a fair trial or feel like the court didn’t apply the law correctly,” she explained, the case would get sent to the court of appeals for a ruling.

The appeals court sets precedents for lower courts, “courts I’ve already presided over,” Thompson noted.

She said she is the only candidate with prior judicial and trial experience.

Judges are charged with being impartial, and although Thompson is running on the Democratic ticket, she said party affiliation has no bearing on her role as a judge. “I am on the ballot with a party affiliation because that’s the current law,” she said.

“At no point have I ever asked a crying mother…grieving the loss of a child…or families who are broken because of a marital dispute…so – what’s your party affiliation?” she said.

“When you come before me,” Thompson added, “I will deal with you straight up.”

Thompson, a licensed and ordained minister, said she is committed to running a clean campaign, focusing on what she can bring to the job with “no disparaging remarks because we are all officers of the court.”

She is involved with Families Living Violence Free and shares her knowledge and experiences working with domestic violence victims and survivors of sexual assault and abuse. She said it is important for the community to understand “what domestic violence is, what it looks like and…what the law says about it,” Thompson said.

She said in the thousands of clients she has represented or had in her courtroom as a judge, there have been many heart-wrenching stories that stay with her today. But not all the memories are bad, Thompson said. She recalled the note she received from a young person now in military service who says “thank you” for caring all those years ago when life had been unkind. Or the victim of domestic violence who said Thompson “gave me a second look when no one else did.”

It’s good memories like those that balance out the bad, Thompson said.

Early voting begins Oct. 20. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

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