Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Perdue names Republican to judgeship

Gov. Bev Perdue has appointed Eric Levinson to the Superior Court bench in Mecklenburg County. It's an interesting appointment because Perdue is a Democrat and Levinson is a Republican who has served before as a judge prior to going to Afghanistan two years ago for the Bush Administration Justice Department to help introduce a new civil justice system there and to consult on justice issues in Iraq.

N.C. judicial races, of course, are nonpartison now. Levinson was widely regarded as a highly capable, effective judge when he served on the N.C. Court of Appeals and as a district judge in Mecklenburg. He ran unsuccessfully for the N.C. Supreme Court in 2006. Here's Perdue's announcement:

RALEIGH - Gov. Bev Perdue today appointed Eric L. Levinson to the seat of Resident Superior Court judge for Mecklenburg County. Levinson will fill the vacancy created by Judge David S. Cayer’s resignation to serve as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of North Carolina.

"Judge Levinson's broad judicial background will allow him to immediately step in and begin serving the community," Perdue said. "I appreciate his continued commitment to the law and his willingness to serve North Carolina."

Levinson recently spent time in Iraq as a Justice Attaché for the U.S. Department of Justice. He also has consulted with the Supreme Court of Afghanistan to help develop its civil court system. Prior to his judicial service overseas, Levinson spent five years on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Before joining the court he served six years as a District Court Judge in Mecklenburg County and four years as an assistant district attorney for Cabarrus and Rowan counties.

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his law degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Law.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

IMPEACH BEV PERDUE!!!

robert billington said...

Amen, an example of why North Carolina needs to change the method of judicial selection in order to insure the most qualified candidates are chosen.