When North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby replaced District Court Chief Judge Elizabeth Trosch in Mecklenburg County with another judge, some other judges and politicians were upset. They accused Newby, a Republican, of removing Trosch, a Democrat, without good reason. Joining me now for a fact-check of North Carolina politics is Paul Specht of WRAL.
Marshall Terry: OK, Paul. Let's just take a step back to start, because I'm guessing a lot of people aren't familiar with the whole layout of the state court system. Who is the Supreme Court chief justice? Who are the district court chief judges? And what role does the Supreme Court's chief justice play with the district court?
Paul Specht: Paul Newby is the chief justice of the state Supreme Court — that's the highest court in North Carolina. Below him, there are various courts across North Carolina. The one we'll talk about today is Judicial District 26 in Mecklenburg County, and each of these lower court districts has their own chief district court judge. Chief district court judges — they keep the trains running on time. And so, when someone leaves that position — almost always — it's the chief Supreme Court justice, who appoints a new chief district court judge. And he or she — whoever the chief justice is — has the power to do that throughout the state.
Terry: So after Newby replaced Trosch, Anderson Clayton, the chairwoman of the North Carolina Democratic Party, posted this on X: "Justice Paul Newby is out here removing judges who were elected to their positions by the *voters of North Carolina*!!! Don't tell me Republicans believe in free and fair elections and representation. Their actions say otherwise!"
OK, let's break that claim down. Did Newbie actually remove Trosch from her position, or from any position voters elected her to?
Specht: He removed Trosch from her position as chief district court judge there in the Mecklenburg County district. The misleading part of this social media post is that she was not elected to that position. Trosch was appointed as chief district court judge back in 2020 after Trosch's predecessor retired. There was an election later that year in 2020, but at the district court level, voters do not have a say in who the district court chief judge is. They just vote on their judges. And then the chief is either determined by seniority or by the Supreme Court chief justice. It's inaccurate to say that voters elected Trosch to her position as chief district court judge.
Terry: And Trosch is still a judge, right?
Specht: That's right. She's still on the bench — is no longer in that leadership position.
Terry: But some other judges weren't happy about Newby's decision, right? What did they say?
Specht: About two dozen judges came out and signed a letter praising Trosch for her work during the pandemic and helping them adapt to eCourts — that electronic portal that people can use to access court documents, and just overall being fair and unbiased on the bench.
Terry: So how did you rate this claim?
Specht: Now, Newby did take away Trosch's title of chief district court judge, but she remains on the bench — and he is allowed under the law to appoint and strip people of the title of chief district court judge whenever he feels like it. So there's no illegality here. There's — Newby's not doing anything wrong. And, contrary to what Clayton's post said, voters had no input, no influence over Trosch getting that leadership role at all. And all that's why we rated this claim false.
Terry: All right, Paul. Thank you. That's Paul Specht with WRAL. These fact checks are a collaboration between PolitiFact and WRAL, and you can hear them Wednesdays on Morning Edition.
