RALEIGH — On Jan. 1, North Carolina’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby administered the oath to the new members of the state’s top court and those joining the state Court of Appeals.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Supreme Court in Raleigh and was attended by family and friends of those participating in taking the oath.
Joining the bench of the North Carolina Supreme Court are Associate Justices Richard Dietz and Trey Allen, who previously served as the general counsel for the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.
“I am so grateful to the people of North Carolina for electing me to our State’s highest court. I was delighted to be sworn in today by Chief Justice Newby,” Allen said in a statement to North State Journal. “I look forward to working with him and the court’s other members to ensure that the law is followed and that justice is done in our State.”
On the North Carolina Court of Appeals, current Chief Judge Donna Stroud was sworn in as well as returning Judge John Tyson. Newcomer Julee Flood and Michael Stading also took the oath to join the Court of Appeals.
“I am so grateful the honor of being surrounded by my family while I was being sworn in,” Flood told North State Journal. “It was an amazing sense of honor to have them with me as I was swearing to uphold the constitution and serve North Carolinians.”
Image courtesy of James Piedad Photography.
Stading told North State Journal he was “looking forward to hitting the ground running” as a new judge on the Court of Appeals.
“It was a really beautiful moment with all our families there,” Stading said of the swearing-in ceremony. “It was reverent and solemn as we said we would follow the constitution and do what we said we were going to do.”
All six of the new judges and associate justices are Republicans, marking the second straight election cycle in which Republicans have swept all statewide judicial races.
Dietz and Allen’s installment shifts the Supreme Court’s makeup from a 4-3 Democrat majority to a 5-2 Republican majority.
Dietz’s former spot on the Court of Appeals was backfilled by Gov. Roy Cooper on Dec. 16. Cooper appointed activist attorney Allison Riggs to fill the vacancy.
Riggs spent the last 13 years with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, an outfit founded by sitting N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls. She has no experience as a judge at any level and joined Earls’ left-leaning activist legal group after graduating law school at the University of Florida.
