RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court has set Nov. 10 for 2 1/2 hours of oral arguments in two cases pitting Democratic Gov. Josh Stein against top Republican legislative leaders over laws that limit the governor’s appointment authority.
Cases known as Stein v. Berger and Stein v. Hall will be consolidated on the first day of the court’s November session, one week after Election Day. Arguments will be split between filling statewide judicial vacancies and appointments to state boards and commissions. Each side gets 30 minutes on judicial vacancies and 45 minutes on the remaining issues under a joint plan that also flags the nine boards and commissions at issue across both appeals.
Stein challenges a 2024 Senate Bill 382 rule that limits his choices for Appeals Court and Supreme Court vacancies to one of three names submitted by the departing jurist’s political party. Before that law, he could fill those seats with a qualified person of his choice. A three-judge panel blocked the change as violating Article IV, Section 19, but the Court of Appeals reversed in a 2-1 decision that also upheld shifting a Utilities Commission appointment from Stein to Republican Treasurer Brad Briner.
In a brief Wednesday focusing on judicial vacancies, Stein’s lawyers argued that Article IV gives the governor exclusive appointment power for Court of Appeals and Supreme Court vacancies and bars the General Assembly from prescribing a different process. They said a lame-duck legislature ignored that text by forcing selections from lists drawn by unelected political operatives. A separate Wednesday brief on boards and commissions raised whether the governor’s executive power can be split among Council of State members so no single executive controls certain boards.
The court earlier accepted a joint proposal consolidating the appeals and staggering briefs, with final briefs due Oct. 30. The political question doctrine and whether the court should overrule prior McCrory and Cooper decisions are also on the table. Lawmakers defend the statutes as constitutional checks on appointment power; Stein says they invade core executive authority.
