North Carolina Republican Supreme Court candidate Sarah Stevens has been criticized for sharing a photo in which she appears to be wearing a judicial robe.
The photo, shared from her campaign, was posted on September 28th and reshared by the NCGOP.
According to the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct, “A judge may engage in political activity consistent with the judge’s status as a public official”; however, Canon 7 of the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct states that “A judge or a candidate should not: […] ‘intentionally and knowingly misrepresent his/her identity or qualifications.”
In recent years, several candidates in other states have come under scrutiny for wearing judicial robes in campaign materials. In August, a former magistrate running for judge in Ohio was found to have violated three provisions of the state’s code of judicial conduct by appearing in judicial robes in campaign flyers.
This is not the first time Stevens has come under fire for not following the law. Earlier this year, an investigation by the North Carolina State Board of Elections found that Stevens accepted illegal campaign contributions from lobbyists.
Under North Carolina law, it is illegal for lobbyists to donate to the campaigns of sitting state legislators, legislative candidates and Council of State members.
According to NC Newsline, Stevens received a $6,800 donation from a longtime lobbyist in June last year.
Stevens also voted in favor of the 2011 Congressional map, state Senate map, and state House map, all of which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutionally racially gerrymandered.
“Sarah Stevens wants North Carolinians to trust her with a seat on our state’s highest court, but she can’t even be honest about her professional qualifications,” stated Caroline Sparks, Executive Director of Justice for NC, in a press release. “If Stevens wants to be a Supreme Court justice, she should start by being honest with voters about who she is and what she has done.”
Stevens, who is being accused of protecting child predators throughout her career, is running against Justice Anita Earls for the state Supreme Court seat. Justice Earls, a former civil rights attorney, is seeking her second eight-year term on the state’s highest court.
Justice Earls is just one of two sitting Democratic judges on the high court with a 5-2 Republican majority.
