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Greetings
Friend
-- We want to highlight Justice Paul Newby who is the lone conservative presently sitting on the North Carolina Supreme Court. On a bench stacked with liberal-leaning judicial activists, Newby is the only originalist serving on our state’s highest court. Now, he is running for Chief Justice. Throughout the duration of his career, Justice Newby has accumulated a long list of accolades. He is co-author of The North Carolina State Constitution with History and Commentary (2d ed. 2013), and an adjunct professor at Campbell University School of Law. He has received the Citizen Lawyer Award from the North Carolina Bar Association, as well as the John McNeill Smith, Jr. Award from the North Carolina Bar Association for his work in the area of constitutional law. In addition, Justice Newby is an Eagle Scout and the recipient of the Heroism Award for rescuing nine people from a riptide. He also received the Distinguished Eagle Scout, a national honor for both his service to the Boy Scouts and his dedication to public service. Justice Newby’s dedication to public service has ultimately led to his bold leadership on our State’s Highest Court. "I lose sleep at night thinking, what would it be like if we had no one to hold accountable those that want to cause social change through our judicial branch," said Justice Newby in a campaign speech last year. Indeed, he is faced with the task of remaining steadfast in the face of immense opposition. First elected in 2004, Justice Newby is the Senior Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. As the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court, he seemed the obvious pick for Chief Justice in 2019, when Governor Cooper was tasked with filling the vacancy left by former Chief Justice Mark Martin. Instead, Governor Cooper chose Cheri Beasley, a democrat. This election, Chief Justice Beasley and Justice Newby are going head to head for the Chief Justice seat. When it comes to judicial philosophy, Justice Newby and Chief Justice Beasley are polar opposites. Justice Newby is a strong supporter of upholding the literal meaning of the constitution as enacted by the people and intended by the General Assembly. This makes him a strong originalist, which is a departure from his colleagues on the court and Chief Justice Beasley, who have tried to expand the meaning of the word “law”. According to Justice Newby, recent court decisions have expanded the meaning to include the governor’s policy preferences. This is a huge deviation from the historic understanding of the Constitution and is dangerous because it leads to judicial activism by expanding the power of the judicial branch beyond what the Constitution intended. As a result, Justice Newby’s views on what the court should get involved in “certainly differ from that of the majority of the justices.” In 2015, Justice Newby joined the 4-3 majority in Hart v. State where the Court upheld the constitutionality of the Opportunity Scholarship Program. The Opportunity Scholarship Program is an income-based tuition assistance voucher awarded to students enrolled in a participating private or charter schools. The scholarship is a crucial step in promoting school choice and educational freedom. Chief Justice Beasley was one of three dissenters. In her dissenting opinion, she emphasizes the need for “free public education”, saying that the Opportunity Scholarship Program circumvents the mission of public schools, which is to offer a sound basic education. According to Chief Justice Beasley, the scholarship program is a “cruel illusion” that “exacerbates… educational, class, and racial divides”. Chief Justice Mark Martin, noted in the ruling that the scholarship is important because it allows a “small number of students in lower-income families to receive scholarships from the state to attend private school”. This means that those who oppose the scholarship program are responsible for denying lower-income students the opportunity to participate in private education, even though it may better serve the student. The North Carolina Values Coalition whole-heartedly endorses Justice Paul Newby for Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Justice Newby has shown time and again that he is dedicated to preserving and upholding the Constitution, and he is a fierce advocate for religious freedom, family, and life. He is a man of great courage and strong values. We are honored to endorse Justice Newby for Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court! We hope you'll tune in to tonight’s 7:30pm Voice program, where we are featuring a special edition focused on the NC Supreme Court. We’ll be interviewing three conservative candidates running for election or re-election to our state’s highest court: Justice Paul Newby, Judge Phil Berger Jr., and Tamara Barringer. It is with high honor that the North Carolina Values Coalition endorses these three conservatives for the NC Supreme Court. We hope you'll tune in to hear from them and why we endorse them for the Court tonight on The Voice at 7:30pm. Watch live and past episodes at: www.ncvalues.org/voice or www.facebook.com/ncvalues/live
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