Jefferson Griffin Blinks in the Most Pathetic Way Imaginable

Judge Jefferson "Crazy Eyes" Griffin

Trying to keep up with all the moving parts of Jefferson Griffin's scheme to steal the Supreme Court election from Allison Riggs.

Recall the posting here on January 8th: "Conservative Majority on NC Supreme Court Fractures Over Griffin Attempt To Steal the Election." The Republican who disagreed most vociferously with Griffin's proposal to throw out over 60,000 legitimate votes, Associate Justice Richard Dietz, wrote

“Permitting post-election litigation that seeks to rewrite our state’s election rules—and, as a result, remove the right to vote in an election from people who already lawfully voted under the existing rules—invites incredible mischief."

Anderson Reports has out this morning news of an updated court filing from Griffin in which he blinks in the most pathetic way imaginable:

Seeming to recognize Dietz’s criticism, Griffin on Tuesday asked the state Supreme Court to consider a phased ruling, where it would first direct the 5,509 ballots from overseas voters without photo ID be tossed out first. If a retabulation showed Griffin overtaking Riggs’ 734-vote lead, Griffin would want the election to be certified in his favor. If a retabulation showed Riggs still ahead, however, Griffin would want the Supreme Court to proceed to the issue of 267 overseas voters who don’t reside in North Carolina and the 60,273 voters with incomplete registration, if necessary.

In other hilarious words, just toss out ballots until I say quit, and maybe it won't take disenfranchising the full 60,000 to give me Seat 6.

If I were a standup comic, I'd be exploiting this lame slug of a politician for big laughs. 

Conservative Majority on NC Supreme Court Fractures Over Griffin Attempt To Steal the Election

 

Trey Allen and Richard Dietz

Jefferson Griffin's petition to simply throw out 60,000 valid votes in his attempt to unseat Associate Justice Allison Riggs has produced what we rarely see in North Carolina, two conservative justices -- Richard Dietz and Trey Allen, both Republicans -- who either dissent strongly and on paper (Dietz) or otherwise suggest that he was not in favor of the idea of overturning the election (Allen). (Indebted to Bryan Anderson, the best political reporter currently working in NC, for this news.)

After Federal U.S. District Court Judge Richard Myers II remanded the Griffin petition back to the NC Supreme Court on Monday, immediately the NC Supremes issued an order blocking the state Board of Elections (SBOE) from certifying Allison Riggs the winner of the election while it conducts its own mini-trial of the matter (as though there were a legitimate reason to delay certification).

Republican Justice Dietz wrote "a scathing six-page dissent" (Anderson's characterization), saying in part that a petition to overturn an election shouldn't even be considered by the Court:

“Permitting post-election litigation that seeks to rewrite our state’s election rules — and, as a result, remove the right to vote in an election from people who already lawfully voted under the existing rules — invites incredible mischief,” Dietz wrote. “It will lead to doubts about the finality of vote counts following an election, encourage novel legal challenges that greatly delay certification of the results, and fuel an already troubling decline in public faith in our elections.”

For his part, and although he agreed with the Republican majority to hear Griffin's suit, Trey Allen was perhaps signaling his skepticism: “The Court’s order granting Judge Griffin’s motion for temporary stay should not be taken to mean that Judge Griffin will ultimately prevail on the merits,” Allen wrote.

Democratic Justice Anita Earls also dissented. That leaves three Republican justices to carry Griffin's dirty water -- Chief Justice Paul Newby and Associate Justices Tamara Barringer and Baby Berger.

Meanwhile, the SBOE has appealed to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals for permission to certify the election. The criss-crossing of state and Federal action is only one confounding element of this truly astounding attempt to steal an election via judicial action.

The Real, Fulminating Threat to Democracy in NC

 

Paul Newby,
"His Benevolence"

In Sunday's News&Observer, UNC Law School Professor Gene Nichol had a stark round-up of the "Six Factors That Brought Down NC Democracy in 2024." Nichol lays much of the blame for the precarious condition of democracy in North Carolina at the doorstep of the state Supreme Court, "transformed into the most partisan appellate tribunal in the United States" under the ascendancy of Chief Justice Paul Newby (a.k.a., "The Smiling Eff You") who thinks the General Assembly under Republican super-majorities is the “sacrosanct fulfillment of the people’s will.” In other words, the hand of the Almighty has bestowed its blessings on Phil Berger, and we all must do as he wishes.

Nichol:

Broadly speaking, state separation of powers issues are left in the hands of state supreme courts, unreviewable by the federal judiciary. So when the state Supreme Court says the General Assembly can do whatever it wants — including cheating on redistricting and overriding the results of elections through sore loser laws — regardless of the clear limits of the North Carolina constitution, the people of the state have no legal or effective political recourse. Such are the wages of a Supreme Court refusing to carry out its prescribed duty of independent judicial review.

The other four partisan Republicans who follow the leadership of Paul Newby:

1. Phil Berger Jr., "Baby Berger," whose very presence on the Court owes much to the power of his big daddy, Phil Senior. Junior is a "nepo baby." We wrote about his rise in January 2019. His term isn't up until 2028.

2. Tamara Barringer, the former Republican state senator until she was defeated in the 2018 Blue Wave by Democrat Sam Searcy, ran for and won her associate justice seat in 2020. She's next up for reelection in 2028.

3. Richard Dietz, whose term runs out in 2030, was originally appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2014 by Gov. Pat McCrory. 

4. Trey Allen, who clerked for Paul Newby (a.k.a., "Rumpelstiltskin"), was elected in 2022, so he's safe until 2030. 

We have a lot of years of suffering ahead of us before any potential break in the clouds.

Rumplestiltskin

Inman v. Dietz for the NC Supreme Court

 

PamsPicks.net was published yesterday, and it's my go-to place for information on every candidate on the November ballot in Watauga County (which includes all the statewide races as well as regional ones for US House and the NC General Assembly). (Not quite full disclosure: I know the researcher reasonably well.)

I'll be borrowing directly from her analyses this week and probably into next week. Yesterday, I published her "take" on the election. Today I begin to share her discussion of the several judge races statewide, which are some of the most crucial contests on our ballot. I've added photographs of the candidates.

NC Supreme Court, Associate Justice, Seat 3

NOTE: You may vote for one. Candidates are presented below in the order they appear on your ballot.

Reason for my Endorsement: Dietz and Inman both seem like well qualified and impressive candidates. However, conservative forces who oppose abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, justice for the middle class, increased teacher pay, etc., and who favor continued gerrymandering and suppression of voter rights, only have to flip one Democratic seat on the Supreme Court to take control. In this case, Inman could flip a Republican seat and ensure that we continue to have a legal hedge against the power-grabbing habits of the Republicans in the General Assembly.

Richard Dietz, Republican

https://www.judgedietz.com

https://twitter.com/richard_dietz

https://www.facebook.com/judgericharddietz

Dietz comes from a mountain family (albeit northeast Pennsylvania), becoming the first in his family to attend college. He went on to graduate first in his class from Wake Forest University School of Law and later earned a master’s degree from Duke University School of Law. He was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2014 by Gov. Pat McCrory, went on to win in his own right in 2016, and is now trying to move up to the NC Supreme Court with two years remaining in his Court of Appeals term.

Dietz handled a number of high-profile appeals in private practice. He argued on behalf of the Petitioner in the U.S. Supreme Court in Abramski v. United States, a prominent gun law case that addressed the scope of the straw man purchaser doctrine. Dietz’s client lost the case in a 5-4 decision. Dietz also represented a class of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans in several appeals in the Cobell v. Salazar (1996) litigation involving the U.S. government’s mismanagement of Indian trust money.

Dietz previously served as Vice Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section and currently serves on the Appellate Section Council and the Appellate Rules Committee. In 2013, he was appointed to a four-year term on the North Carolina Courts Commission, a group of judges, lawyers, legislators, and private citizens who study and recommend changes to the court system. He is a permanent member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference and a member of the Appellate Judges Conference of the American Bar Association.

Dietz is a North Carolina board certified specialist in Appellate Practice. He is one of only two appellate specialists on the 15-member North Carolina Court of Appeals and one of only 27 board certified specialists in North Carolina.

Dietz’s endorsements include the Polie Benevolent Association and the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police.

Lucy Inman, Democrat

https://mobile.twitter.com/judgelucyinman/with_replies

https://www.lucyinmanforjustice.com

https://www.facebook.com/judgelucyinman

Inman is a graduate of NC State University and the University of North Carolina School of Law. Her first career was as a newspaper reporter. While covering court proceedings, she was inspired to get her law degree. Her first job after law school was working as a law clerk for North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Exum.

Inman was elected to the NC Court of Appeals in 2014, and her term is expiring this year. She ran in 2020 for a Supreme Court seat against Phil Berger Jr., but lost. She’s trying again this year.

From 1992 to 2010, Inman practiced civil litigation in matters including commercial disputes, catastrophic injury, medical negligence, and sexual abuse. From 2010-2014, Inman served as a special Superior Court judge, presiding in hearings and jury trials across North Carolina. She has authored more than 500 appellate opinions and participated in thousands of other decisions.

Inman says, “I’m running for the Supreme Court because North Carolinians deserve justices who decide each case fairly and impartially, free of any political agenda, and without fear or favor.” One  of her campaign ads emphasizes fairness and humanity in the North Carolina Courts.

Inman’s endorsements include, among many others, Equality NC, the Durham People’s Alliance, the National Association of Social Workers, the NC Sierra Club, and over thirty retired and former NC judges.