2022 North Carolina Supreme Court Voters Guide

Trey Allen (R)

Trey Allen is currently the General Counsel for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. He was appointed in 2021 by Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, a Republican justice. He has a bachelor’s degree from UNC Pembroke and a law degree from UNC Chapel Hill. After law school, Allen served as a judge advocate for the U.S. Marine Corps, then worked in private practice at the law firm Tharrington Smith, where he represented local school boards, before joining the faculty at the UNC School of Government.

Sam Ervin (D)

Justice Sam Ervin currently serves as a justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court, a position he has held since 2015.  Prior to that, he served on the Court of Appeals for six years. Ervin has an undergraduate degree from Davidson College and a law degree from Harvard.  Prior to becoming a judge, Irvin worked for the law firm Byrd, Byrd, Ervin, Whisnat & McMahon handling civil, criminal, and administrative matters, and then served on the North Carolina Utilities Commission.

Trey Allen (R)

• Allen has not served as a judge.

Sam Ervin (D)

• As a justice, Ervin voted with the Court majority to say that the North Carolina constitution can’t be amended by lawmakers from districts with borders created in a racially gerrymandered way.
• He voted to create a mandatory parole review for prisoners sentenced as juveniles, who have served 40 years in prison.
• Ervin voted to invalidate redistricting maps that a lower court had found were “a result of intentional, pro-Republican partisan redistricting.”
• In 2015, he dissented from a Court decision to allow the use of vouchers (public dollars) to send low-income students to private and religious schools.

Trey Allen (R)

• Allen considers himself an originalist, in that he believes the Constitution must be interpreted based on the understanding at the time it was ratified in 1789. “Judges should follow the constitution as it was understood at the time of ratification.”
• He believes in the right of citizens to bear arms and the “fundamental right” of parents to oversee the care and control of their children. Also says, “Our constitutional rights don’t take a break during a state of emergency.”
• Allen says his legal philosophy is best exemplified by Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
• In July 2021, Allen said that his Christian “faith and family are core to who I am.”
• Regarding the decision to make North Carolina judicial elections partisan, Allen said, “To the extent that judicial candidates who belong to a particular party are likely to share the same judicial philosophy, party labels can give voters useful information.”

Sam Ervin (D)

• As to how constitutional provisions should be construed, Ervin said in October 2022, “If the language is clear and unambiguous, the provision should be interpreted as written.” If not, he would look at earlier cases, as well as a provi-sion’s context, intended purpose, and historical context.
• Regarding the decision to make North Carolina judicial elections partisan, Ervin said, “I strongly believe that the decision to make North Carolina judicial elections partisan again was an unfortunate one.”

Trey Allen (R)

Allen is endorsed by North Carolina Right to Life, North Carolina Troopers Association, and the North Carolina Values Coalition, an “advocate for pro-family positions.” Here is a list of his other endorsements.

Sam Ervin (D)

Ervin is endorsed by the NC Sierra Club, the North Carolina state AFL-CIO, Equality NC (an LGBT+ rights organization), the Fraternal Order of the Police (Lodge #9) , and the Durham Committee on the affairs of Black People. Here is a list of his other endorsements.