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{{Short description|American judge (born 1960)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Anita Earls
| office = Associate Justice of the [[North Carolina Supreme Court]]▼
| term_start = January 1, 2019▼
▲|office = Associate Justice of the [[North Carolina Supreme Court]]
| term_end = ▼
▲|term_start = January 1, 2019
| predecessor = [[Barbara Jackson]]▼
▲|term_end =
| successor = ▼
▲|predecessor = [[Barbara Jackson]]
| birth_name
▲|successor =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|2|20}}▼
▲|birth_name = Anita Sue Brooks<ref>https://www.portiaprojectpodcast.com/episodes/episode102-anita-earls</ref>
| birth_place = [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], U.S.▼
▲|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|2|20}}
| death_date =
▲|birth_place = [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], U.S.
|
| party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]▼
| spouse = Jonathan Hodgkiss (1982–2003)<br
▲|party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| education = [[Williams College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br
▲|spouse = Jonathan Hodgkiss (1982–2003)<br />Charles Walton (2009–present)
▲|education = [[Williams College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[Yale University]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])
}}
'''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. Her parents relocated there because Missouri banned interracial marriage (Earls's mother is white, her father is black). Earls and her brother were both adopted.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=3 March 2014 |title=Anita Earls Oral History Transcription |url=https://
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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On June 9, 2020, [[North Carolina Governor]] [[Roy Cooper]] appointed Earls as the co-chair of North Carolina's Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice.<ref>{{cite web |title=Associate Justice Anita Earls Named Co-Chair of Governor's Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice |url=https://www.nccourts.gov/news/tag/press-release/associate-justice-anita-earls-named-co-chair-of-governors-task-force-for-racial-equity-in-criminal-justice |website=North Carolina Judicial Branch}}</ref> The Task Force, convened in the wake of the [[murder of George Floyd]], has begun issuing recommendations such as banning choke holds, suggesting that law enforcement agencies implement "duty to report" rules regarding excessive force, and requiring North Carolina to include information on race in its data reporting.<ref>{{cite web |last1=White |first1=Herbert |title=NC task force adds a pair of recommendations for state courts Panel suggests racial information in data |url=http://www.thecharlottepost.com/news/2020/08/28/local-state/nc-task-force-adds-a-pair-of-recommendations-for-state-courts/ |website=Charlotte Post |access-date=September 20, 2020}}</ref> The work of the task force is ongoing.
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
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>
== Personal life ==▼
==Electoral history==
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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:20th-century African-American women]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American
[[Category:20th-century African-American lawyers]]
[[Category:Duke University faculty]]
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