NC Supreme Court Races: Associate Justice Race PT 2

Yesterday, I continued the series covering the Supreme Court races in North Carolina in the article NC Supreme Court Races: Associate Justice Race. That piece re-capped the previous article on the Associate Justice race I had covered and included related prior articles. Here is the list:

This Supreme Court Associate Justice race involves three candidates. The sitting Justice, Robin Hudson, and two challengers. There will be a primary to narrow the field down to just two candidates. The race is non-partisan in nature, however, Hudson, the incumbent, is a Democrat. Her challengers are Republican. In the last installment, challenger Jeanette Doran was covered. Today’s piece will spotlight Eric Levinson.

About Eric Levinson

According to both his site and Judgepedia, Judge Levinson was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1992. Levinson was appointed as s a Superior Court judge in the 26th district of the 7th division of NC Superior Court by Former Governor Perdue in 2009. That region services Mecklenburg county. Prior to that, he was an Associate Judge for the NC Court of Appeals (2002-2009), A district court judge in the 26th district (1996-2001) and Assistant District Attorney in district 19A – which currently serves Cabarrus county (1992-1996).

I had the opportunity to hear Judge Levinson and other candidates speak at a recent Wake County Republican Women’s luncheon:

Levinson now speaking. Conservative constitutionalist, running vs Doran. #ncpol #elections

— LL1885 – A.P. Dillon (@LadyLiberty1885) April 17, 2014

Levinson’s “About page” provides a bit more detail on the above-mentioned timeline:

Judge Eric Levinson joined the District Attorney’s Office in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties, N.C. as a felony prosecutor following law school, and he prosecuted drug, property, sexual assault, and homicide offenders.

Judge Eric Levinson was elected to the N.C. judiciary in 1996 as a District and Family Court Judge in Charlotte, N.C. In this role, he was recognized for implementing best-practices in our criminal and child support enforcement courts and became a N.C. Certified Juvenile Court Judge.

Judge Eric Levinson was elected statewide in 2002 as one of fifteen members of the N.C. Court of Appeals in Raleigh, N.C., where he served as an Associate Judge and the Court’s youngest member. He authored hundreds of legal opinions in disputes and lawsuits concerning criminal, civil and administrative matters.

The about page also mentions that he was appointed by President Bush as the Justice attache to Iraq and he also did work in Afghanistan:

Judge Eric Levinson was appointed by the Bush Administration in 2007 as the Justice Attache to Iraqfor the U.S. Department of Justice. As Justice Attache, Levinson managed the U.S. government’s diplomatic relationship with the Iraqi judiciary and its Chief Justice, Medhat al Mahmoud, and advanced the establishment of Major Crimes Courts where terrorists were prosecuted.

Judge Eric Levinson worked in Kabul, Afghanistan as a Rule of Law and Courts Advisor in 2008. In this role, he collaborated with members of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan and helped draft and advance guidelines to establish commercial courts to adjudicate business, contract and related civil conflicts

Levinson also is an adjunct professor at a few North Carolina universities:

Judge Eric Levinson has taught as an adjunct instructor at a variety of N.C. colleges and universities, including (1) UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government, where he taught an offering on Ethics in the Masters of Public Administration Program; and (2) the Charlotte School of Law, where he has taught offerings on Juvenile Law, Remedies, Appellate Advocacy, and Civil Litigation. Levinson has presented lectures to other judges through the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute of Government.

His website also features a video (see below), right below the endorsement banner that reads:

Endorsed by former Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake, Jr. and former Justice Robert (Bob) Orr, who say that “Judge Levinson is simply the most qualified candidate.”