Podcast Ep 09 - Justice Anita Earls on Voting Rights, Fair Maps, and Public Education in North Carolina

Indivisible Charlotte’s In The Know Live hosts North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls, a veteran civil rights litigator seeking re-election in November 2026, to discuss her background and key issues before the court. Earls describes growing up in a mixed-race family affected by discrimination, her work with Julius Chambers, her DOJ service, and founding the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and explains why state courts matter amid federal rollbacks of individual rights. She details recent North Carolina vote-suppression efforts, including the Griffin–Riggs dispute and attempts to discard military and overseas ballots, and clarifies the legal difference between racial and partisan gerrymandering. Earls discusses the Leandro education case, her dissent after the court ended the litigation, and argues courts must enforce students’ constitutional right to a sound basic education. She addresses judicial ethics “weaponization,” utility rate cases, her opponent Sarah Stevens’ record, and ends with hope for future court changes, noting three Republican seats are up in the next cycle.

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