North Carolina General Assembly Senate

SENATOR JAY J. CHAUDHURI COMMITTEES DISTRICT 16 AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES 1121 LEGISLATIVE BUILDING APPROPRIATIONS / BASE BUDGET 16 WEST JONES STREET EDUCATION / HIGHER EDUCATION RALEIGH, 27601-2808 PENSIONS & RETIREMENT & AGING PHONE: (919) 715-6400 STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT FAX: (919) 754-3156 EMAIL: [email protected]

December 21, 2017

By E-mail and Hand Delivery

Senator Dan Bishop Senator Senator Co-Chair, Senate Select Committee on Judicial Reform and Redistricting 2108 Legislative Building Raleigh, North Carolina 27601-2108

Re: Recommendations for Speakers for Next Committee Meeting

Dear Senators Bishop, Daniel, and Rabon:

As members of the Senate Select Committee on Judicial Reform and Redistricting (“Committee”), we recommend the following speakers for the upcoming Committee meeting on Wednesday, January 3, 2018.

1. Jim Blaine, Chief of Staff to President Pro Tempore Phil Berger

Mr. Blaine serves as Chief of Staff to President Pro Tempore Phil Berger. According to news reports, Senator Berger has tasked Mr. Blaine to lead the Senate’s effort on judicial reform.1 Most recently, Mr. Blaine has appeared twice on Spectrum News 14 discussing various options for judicial reform.2

1 See, e.g., Melissa Boughton, Merit or maps? Judges’ futures could come down to clashing legislative proposals, N.C. Policy Watch, Aug. 15, 2017 (“Berger is sending Blaine, described by lobbyists at the meeting as the ‘right hand man’ to the most powerful person in North Carolina politics, to make presentations across the state to gain Letter to Sens. Bishop, Daniel, and Rabon December 21, 2017 Page 2

2. Mark Martin, Chief Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court

Chief Justice Mark Martin of the North Carolina Supreme Court established the North Carolina Commission on the Administration of Law and Justice (“Commission”), “an independent, multidisciplinary commission comprised of leaders from business, academia, the Judicial Branch, the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, the legal profession, and the non- profit sector.”3 The Commission worked for over 15 months and made recommendations in March of this year about how our courts can best meet the needs and expectations of the 21st century. Earlier this summer, Chief Justice Martin called for merit selection of judges.

3. Robert Orr, Former Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court

Robert Orr served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the North Carolina Supreme Court. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the North Carolina Central University. Upon his retirement from the state Supreme Court, Justice Orr led the newly-formed North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law.

4. Thomas W. Ross, Sr., Former Superior Court Judge and Former Director of North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts

Thomas Ross served as Superior Court Judge for 17 years and director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. Judge Ross has received the William Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence. He was named one of ten National Public Officials of the Year by Governing magazine.

5. Luke Bierman, Dean of Elon University School of Law

Dean Bierman served as executive director of the Institute for Emerging Issue at North Carolina State University and directed the Judicial Division at the American Bar Association. His legal scholarship has focused on judicial selection and justice system reform.

6. John Drennan, Professor at UNC School of Government

Professor Drennan serves on the faculty of the UNC School of Government, where he teaches and advises on court administration and judicial leadership. He also served as director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts.

input and support of a plan as an alternative to Burr’s bill.”), http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2017/08/15/merit- maps-judges-futures-come-clashing-legislative-proposals/ 2 Capital Tonight (Spectrum News 14 broadcast Oct. 18. 2017), https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/capital- tonight/2017/10/18/capital-tonight-oct--18-. See also Gary D. Robertson, House Leader: Judicial deal may not be ready in January, Associated Press, Dec. 15, 2017, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north- carolina/article189987174.html 3 NORTH CAROLINA COMMISSION ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE iii (2017), https://nccalj.org/ Letter to Sens. Bishop, Daniel, and Rabon December 21, 2017 Page 3

7. Representative from the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers

Given the past Committee discussions about diversity in the court system, we request that a representative from the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers speak at the next meeting.

Despite Senator Bishop’s decision to not allow former Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens speak at the last Committee hearing, we continue to expect the Chairs of the Committee to hear from different perspectives and viewpoints. Both Senator Bishop and Mr. Blaine have stated their desire for an open process. For example, during the last Committee meeting, Senator Bishop expressly stated, “We intend as this process is designed to elicit input from every sector in a reasonably organized way . . .”4 Furthermore, Mr. Blaine has publicly stated the Committee will “take input from . . . anybody that wants to come in front of that Committee that wants to discuss these [judicial] proposals . . .”5

We look forward to hearing from you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ian Shannon at (919) 715-6400 or [email protected].

Sincerely,

______Terry Van Duyn Floyd B. McKissick, Jr. North Carolina State Senate, District 49 North Carolina State Senate, District 20

______Joel D. M. Ford Jay J. Chaudhuri North Carolina State Senate, District 38 North Carolina State Senate, District 38

4 Select Senate Committee on Judicial Reform and Redistricting, Dec. 13, 2017 (remarks of Sen. Dan Bishop, Co- Chair). 5 Capital Tonight, supra note 2.