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{{Short description|American judge (born 1960)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Anita Earls
|
| term_start = January 1, 2019▼
| term_end = ▼
▲|term_start = January 1, 2019
| predecessor = [[Barbara Jackson]]▼
▲|term_end =
| successor = ▼
▲|predecessor = [[Barbara Jackson]]
| birth_name = Anita Sue Brooks<ref>https://www.portiaprojectpodcast.com/episodes/episode102-anita-earls {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>
▲|successor =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|2|20}}
| birth_place = [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse = Jonathan Hodgkiss (1982–2003)<br
| education = [[Williams College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br
}}
'''Anita Earls''' (born February 20, 1960) is an American [[civil rights]] attorney who has served as an associate justice of the [[North Carolina Supreme Court]] since 2019. She previously served as the executive director of the Southern Coalition for [[Social Justice]], as well as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the [[United States Department of Justice]] during the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton administration]]. On November 6, 2018, Earls defeated Republican incumbent Justice [[Barbara Jackson]] in a three-candidate election to win a seat on the state's highest court.
== Early life and education ==
Earls grew up in Seattle, Washington.
Earls is a graduate of [[Williams College]] and [[Yale Law School]].<ref name="Observer">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article219823225.html |title=For the NC Supreme Court – Anita Earls |work=newsobserver |access-date=2018-12-01 |language=en}}</ref> Attending [[Williams College]], where she majored in [[political economy]] and [[philosophy]]
== Legal career ==
Following her graduation from [[Yale Law School]], in 1988 Earls was
In 1998 Earls was appointed by President [[Bill Clinton]] to serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the [[U.S. Department of Justice]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dcbar.org/about-the-bar/news/member-spotlight-anita-earls.cfm|title=Civil Rights Attorney Anita Earls: Running to Protect an Independent Judiciary|website=www.dcbar.org|access-date=2019-03-01}}</ref>
After serving as director of the [[Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law|Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights]]' voting rights project (2000-2003) and as director of advocacy at the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights (2003-2007),<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.carolana.com/NC/Courts/nc_supreme_court_justices_ASE.html|title=North Carolina Supreme Court Justices - Anita Sue Earls|website=www.carolana.com|access-date=2019-03-01}}</ref> in 2007 she founded the [[Southern Coalition For Social Justice]] (SCSJ) in Durham, NC, a [[501(c)(3) organization|501(c)(3)]] nonprofit organization
While at SCSJ, Earls represented clients in
Earls has taught at [[Duke University]], the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]] and the [[University of Maryland]].<ref name=nccourts>[https://www.nccourts.gov/news/tag/press-release/associate-justice-anita-earls-installed-at-supreme-court Associate Justice Anita Earls Installed at Supreme Court]</ref>
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Following her election to Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, Earls has written numerous opinions of significance on issues such as the North Carolina Racial Justice Act,<ref>{{cite web |title=State v. Ramseur |url=https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=1&pdf=39415 |website=North Carolina Judicial Branch |access-date=September 19, 2020}}</ref> the maintenance of privacy rights associated with warrantless searches,<ref>{{cite web |title=State v. Terrell |url=https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=1&pdf=38475 |website=North Carolina Judicial Branch |access-date=September 19, 2020}}</ref> and media defamation suits.<ref>{{cite web |title=Desmond v. News and Observer Pub. Company |url=https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=1&pdf=39597 |website=North Carolina Judicial Branch}}</ref>
On June 9, 2020, [[North Carolina Governor]] [[Roy Cooper]] appointed Earls as the
Citing unnamed sources, the Washington Post reported that Earls was among the short-list of candidates under consideration by the Biden administration for nomination to the [[United States Supreme Court]] to replace retiring [[Stephen Breyer|Justice Breyer]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kim|first=Seung Min|date=January 28, 2022|title=White House confirms South Carolina judge is under consideration for Supreme Court|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/28/white-house-confirms-south-carolina-judge-under-consideration-supreme-court/|access-date=January 31, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gresko |first1=Jessica |title=For a historic high court pick, Dems must think outside box |url=https://apnews.com/3a36206929862d7c06293a5724eff2fd |access-date=September 19, 2020 |website=Associated Press|date=26 February 2020 }}</ref> Ultimately, Biden nominated District Judge [[Ketanji Brown Jackson]] to fill the vacancy.
On August 29, 2023 Earls filed a lawsuit in Federal court (Earls v. North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission, et al., U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, No. 23-cv-00734) accusing North Carolina's judicial ethics commission of launching an investigation into her that stifles her First Amendment-protected criticism of the lack of diversity in the state's courts, stemming from a Law360 interview in which she discussed potential "implicit biases" among her colleagues, a lack of Black law clerks being hired, and how the court's new conservative majority had disbanded a commission tasked with examining racial and gender inequality in the judicial system.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Raymond |first=Nate |date=2023-08-29 |title=N.C. justice sues claiming ethics probe seeks to chill diversity critique |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/nc-justice-sues-claiming-ethics-probe-seeks-chill-diversity-critique-2023-08-29/ |access-date=2023-08-30}}</ref> The North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission is charged by statute with investigating anonymized complaints of judicial misconduct. Six of its fourteen members, including its Chair and Vice Chair, are appointed by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina State Supreme Court,<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Judicial Standards Commission {{!}} North Carolina Judicial Branch |url=https://www.nccourts.gov/commissions/judicial-standards-commission/about-the-judicial-standards-commission |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=www.nccourts.gov}}</ref> currently Chief Justice [[Paul Martin Newby|Paul Newby]] (R). In a 2019 campaign speech Newby referred to his colleague Earls, saying "In 2018, the Left put $1.5 million to get their 'AOC' person on the court,"<ref>{{Cite web |last=WRAL |date=2019-07-16 |title=Republican Supreme Court judge disses all six other NC justices |url=https://www.wral.com/story/republican-supreme-court-judge-disses-all-six-other-nc-justices/18514145/ |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=WRAL.com |language=en}}</ref> and in 2022 Newby pushed out the Commission's chair days after the chair reminded state judges of the Code of Judicial Conduct's prohibited political conduct.<ref>{{Cite web |title=N.C. chief justice removes court officials and judges who anger the GOP {{!}} Facing South |url=https://www.facingsouth.org/2022/04/nc-chief-justice-removes-court-officials-and-judges-who-anger-gop |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=www.facingsouth.org}}</ref>
== Personal life ==▼
On October 22, 2024, Justice Earls announced on X: "Yes, I am officially running for re-election in 2026."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Earls |first=Anita |date=October 22, 2024 |title=Yes, I am officially running for re-election in 2026. #NCPol |url=https://x.com/Anita_Earls/status/1848742136994218269 |url-status=live |access-date=October 22, 2024 |website=X.com}}</ref>
==Electoral history==
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!
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|[[2018 North Carolina judicial
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |'''Anita Earls'''
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |1,812,751
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▲== Personal life ==
Anita is married to [[Charles D. Walton]], a native of Raleigh, North Carolina. She has two children and one grandchild.<ref name="nccourts.gov"/>
== See also ==
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{{s-inc}}
{{s-end}}
{{Current North Carolina statewide political officials}}
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[[Category:21st-century American judges]]
[[Category:African-American judges]]
[[Category:North Carolina Democrats]]
[[Category:North Carolina lawyers]]
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[[Category:Yale Law School alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American women lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women judges]]
[[Category:American women academics]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]▼
[[Category:20th-century African-American women]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American
[[Category:Duke University faculty]]
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