Moments after the N.C. State Supreme Court held its formal ceremonial investiture for all newly elected members, Republicans signaled that the extended closures of North Carolina’s judicial branch ordered by former Democrat Chief Justice Cherie Beasley due to COVID-19 can’t continue under the state constitution.
Quoting directly from Article 1 Section 18, constitution’s open court provision, Justice Paul Newby stated, “The courts shall be open, and that justice shall be administered without favor, denial or delay.”
Newby continued: “That is the constitutional requirement that the courts shall be open. Open courts available for all the citizens is not a luxury it is a mandate. Nonetheless, how do we operate in the midst of our global and local pandemic with regard to COVID? That is the great stress of our time as we seek to protect the public health and our court personnel and fulfill our constitutional mandate.”