Chief Justice Appointment and Election
On January 19, 2006, Governor Mike Easley announced that he was appointing Parker Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to replace the retiring I. Beverly Lake. Parker took the oath of office on February 6, becoming the third female Chief Justice of North Carolina's highest court, after Susie Sharp and Rhoda Billings.
At the time of her appointment, former Justice Robert F. Orr, a Republican and executive director of the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, was quoted in the Charlotte Observer calling Parker "probably one of the more conservative justices that has been on the court in a good long while...She's going to be reluctant to go out on a limb ... My sense is that you would find very few cases that were close to the line where she favored criminal defendants." Parker calls herself a moderate conservative. "I tend to stick very closely to precedent and the intent of the legislature as expressed in the language of the statute," she said in that article.
Parker decided to run for a full term as Chief Justice in the November 2006 election. Although judicial races in North Carolina are non-partisan, Parker was backed by the North Carolina Democratic Party.
On November 7, 2006, Parker was elected Chief Justice by a 2-to-1 margin over Judge Rusty Duke.
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by I. Beverly Lake, Jr. |
Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court 2006 - present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
Read more about this topic: Sarah Parker
Famous quotes containing the words chief, justice, appointment and/or election:
“God protect us from the efficient, go-getter businesswoman whose feminine instincts have been completely sterilized. Wherever women are functioning, whether in the home or in a job, they must remember that their chief function as women is a capacity for warm, understanding and charitable human relationships.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)
“Justice?—You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law.”
—William Gaddis (b. 1922)
“In not having an appointment at Harvard, I’m in the company of a great many people whose work I admire tremendously, in particular women of color.”
—Catharine MacKinnon (b. 1946)
“In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.”
—Newt Gingrich (b. 1943)