North Carolina’s Judicial System A Look into our Court System

Public Officials related to the Law  Sheriffs- are the counties highest-ranking law enforcement officer.  Judges decide cases brought before courts of justice and law.

Types of Courts in North Carolina  North Carolina has three different types of courts, in addition to the State Supreme Court which is the highest court in the State.  Appellate Courts  Superior Courts  District Court

North Carolina Court of Appeals  Hears most of the appeals coming from the state’s trial courts.  Judges have 8 year terms and are elected- statewide.

Superior Courts  Superior Courts are trial courts for the state.  They are divided into eight divisions and 46 districts.  Judges are elected to eight-year terms.

District Courts  These are courts that handle trial level cases.

NC State Supreme Court  The NC State Supreme Court is the highest court in the state.  Like the US Supreme Court this court has a chief justice and six associate justices.  Unlike the US Supreme Court judges are elected to eight- year terms.  The State Supreme Court hears cases that have been appealed from lower courts in the state and makes rulings on them.

Two Famous NC Cases  State vs. Mann (1829)  Leandro vs. North Carolina (1995) *1997

State v. Mann (1829)  John Mann was a slave owner that killed one of his slaves back in the 1800’s.  A lower court convicted Mann of killing his slave, however, the NC Supreme Court overruled the Conviction saying that slaves were the property of their owners and that owners could do what they want with their slaves.

Southern Mentality  Southern Mentality at the time:  Slaves were considered to be property. Therefore, the more property that a person owned at the time, the more wealth they had.  In the Old South, three things were important  Life  Honor  Property

The Leandro Case- A Brief Overview  Leandro vs. North Carolina is perhaps the most famous Judicial Case in North Carolina’s recent history.  This landmark North Carolina Supreme Court case, considered whether the state’s distribution of funds among school districts was sufficient and fair

Leandro Continued-A Brief Overview  In 1997, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that all children in North Carolina have a Constitutional right to the “equal opportunity to receive a sound, basic education”  In 2002, Superior Court Judge Manning ruled that many children were not receiving a “sound basic education”  Because of his ruling, The general assembly and the governor are now charged with making a “sound basic education.”

Who was involved?  Originally, School districts from the following districts and families filed the suit in  Hoke  Cumberland  Robeson  Halifax  Vance

Who Later Joined  Wealthy school districts such as:  Charlotte-Mecklenburg  Winston Salem-Forsyth  Wake  Durham

Who presided over the Case?  Judge Howard Manning  A Superior Court Judge -Remember from your notes that Superior Courts are trial courts for the state.

Leandro’s Legacy Leandro Timeline from UNCP Website WRAL.com Story I WRAL.com Story 2 WRAL.com Story 3