...Justice Earls occupies a significant position in the state’s legal landscape as only the seventh African American judge in the history of the North Carolina Supreme Court and the ninth woman to serve on the North Carolina State Supreme Court. In a disturbing trend, the coalition pointed out that similar efforts to investigate and silence Black female leaders are emerging nationwide, as evidenced by the suspension of Florida State Attorney Monique Worrell and the investigation of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia.

In addition to the NAACP and Advancement Project, a coalition of prominent civil rights organizations stands united in support of Justice Earls. They include The Black Voters Matter Fund, BlackPAC, Center for Constitutional Rights, Color Of Change, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, National Bar Association, National Black Justice Coalition, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, National Council of Negro Women, National Urban League, National Women’s Law Center, Rainbow PUSH, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and UnidosUS.

“By targeting and silencing the only Black female judge on the state’s supreme court, the Judicial Standards Commission would perpetuate the very harm Justice Earls described, eroding public trust in the North Carolina justice system in the process,” the coalition wrote in a letter. “This is compounded by actions taken by the new Chief Justice, Paul Newby...

Read the full piece here.