UPDATE on Unconstitutional, Partisan NC Supreme Court Ruling from Congressional Candidate Courtney Geels
Last week, in a party-line, 4-3 vote that reversed a unanimous bipartisan trial court opinion, the Democrat-controlled North Carolina Supreme Court issued a ruling that the North Carolina Congressional districts be redrawn.
As a congressional candidate for US Congress in North Carolina, these unlawful judicial decisions primarily create chaos. The Democrat party screams, “We need democracy,” while their actions show they have no interest in giving constituents enough time to get to know the candidates who may represent them. The red-wave, confirmed by polling, is clearly scaring the Democrats, and they are pulling every string they can to hold on to power, No matter what other obstacles they throw at us, my team will continue pressing on to make sure voters know that I will stand to protect their freedoms and rights.
This partisan decision was not unexpected given that Democrat Justice Anita Earls refused to recuse herself despite major conflict-of-interest issues. The case was funded by her megadonor Eric Holder and argued by her former law partner. Of course, she cast the tie-breaking vote. To further remove any pretense of impartiality, she even bragged about the decision on Twitter.
“Based on the trial court’s factual findings, we conclude that the congressional and legislative maps … are unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt.” Order here: https://t.co/mRvOswmJfX
— Anita Earls (@Anita_Earls) February 4, 2022
The Court’s decision is anti-democratic. In 2020, North Carolina voters elected Republicans to control both chambers of the Legislature to draw redistricting maps and elected Republican judges for all three of the available North Carolina Supreme Court seats. In fact, NC voters chose Republican candidates for all eight available statewide judicial seats. This ruling steals from the voters the choice that they made.
Adding to the injustice, the ruling also ignores centuries of judicial and legislative precedent and contradicts any plain reading of the North Carolina Constitution. That point was emphatically made clear by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Paul Newby, in his dissent as he accused the Court of violating the long-standing separation of powers rules “by effectively placing responsibility for redistricting with the judicial branch, not the legislative branch as expressly provided in our constitution.“
Make no mistake, though this unconstitutional ruling, Democrat judges, lawyers, and activists are using the North Carolina Supreme Court as a policymaking body to impose their political ideas after voters rejected them at the ballot box.
This unnecessary court-ordered delay is unfair to North Carolinian voters. I want to go to Congress to represent the voices of the people in my district and to fight for truth, justice, and unity for them. To do that, I need to know who my voters are. This unconstitutional court ruling makes that goal more difficult but also emphasizes how important it is for us all to continue organizing together to stop this from happening again.
Courtney Geels
You can donate to US Congressional Candidate Geels and help her campaign here.
