Welcome to All Things Judicial: In Focus—your monthly dive into the latest news, updates, and decisions shaping our Judicial Branch. Topics include: Court of Appeals Judge Tom Murry's investiture, eCourts Track 7 roll-out, NC Human Trafficking Commission's annual grant program, judicial appointments, and preview of next episode.
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5:42
Nine AOC Directors' Roundtable Discussion (Part 2)
In this episode, we feature the second installment of a truly extraordinary roundtable discussion with nine former NCAOC directors. The discussion was moderated by former director Judge Marion Warren and included: Judge Gerald Arnold, Judge Jack Cozort, Mr. Jim Drennan, Justice Franklin Freeman, Judge Robert Hobgood, Judge Tom Ross, Judge John Smith, and Judge Ralph Walker. The directors discussed NCAOC's changes throughout the years and shared funny anecdotes from their time leading the Judicial Branch."I went to Avery County in the early 1990s and there was an older woman assistant clerk there. I said, 'I noticed you just got your computers in but they're still in boxes.' She said, 'we don't like computers here and we don't like anyone who does,'" said Judge Walker on the podcast. "I went back 10 years later, the older lady is gone and a younger woman was there. She was pulling her hair out (in frustration) and I said, 'ma'am what in the world is wrong?' She said, 'the computers are down and we can't do anything without them!'"This is part two of the roundtable which was recorded in December 2016. Visit NCcourts.gov to listen to part one and other episodes of All Things Judicial.
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25:36
Nine AOC Directors' Roundtable Discussion (Part 1)
In this episode, we feature the first installment of a truly extraordinary roundtable discussion with nine former NCAOC directors. The discussion was moderated by former director Judge Marion Warren and included: Judge Gerald Arnold, Judge Jack Cozort, Mr. Jim Drennan, Justice Franklin Freeman, Judge Robert Hobgood, Judge Tom Ross, Judge John Smith, and Judge Ralph Walker. The directors began by discussing how they received the "call of duty" from their respective chief justices."I got a call from Chief Justice Henry Frye and he asked if I would be the director of AOC. I talked with my wife and she said 'absolutely not,'" said Judge Hobgood on the podcast. "I thought that was the end of it, but two days later I got calls from I. Beverly Lake, who was just elected, and Henry Frye who said 'why didn't you take that job?' I started thinking about having the sitting chief justice and former chief justice call and ask me to be the the director, so I agreed to start January 1, 2001."This is part one of the roundtable which was recorded in December 2016. Subsequent parts will be released later this month.
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23:56
Charlotte Attorney Joseph W. Grier, Jr.
In this episode, we feature an excerpt of an interview with Charlotte Attorney Joseph W. Grier, Jr. (1915-2010). Grier was interviewed in 2003 for the Chief Justice's Commission on Professionalism's Historical Video Series. Grier led an epic career as a Charlotte attorney for more than 60 years after volunteering for the U.S. Army during WWII. In the podcast, he discusses his early life, highlights of his career, and his community service which included the desegregation of all Charlotte city park facilities and pools in the 1950s. "We voluntarily desegregated all of the parks in Charlotte long before there was any litigation in the schools," said Grier. "It turned out that because we did it voluntarily ... integration was taken as a matter of course and we never had any fuss at all about the parks."This interview was conducted by Attorney Hank Hankins for the CJCP's Historical Video Series. A video of the entire interview can be viewed on the Judicial Branch YouTube Channel.
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23:42
FRIGHT COURT: Paranormal Case Law and the Haunted Caswell County Courthouse
In this episode, we feature our annual Halloween episode entitled Fright Court. In the first segment, we feature Nelson Nauss, the Executive Director of The Ghost Guild, a North Carolina-based paranormal research organization. Nauss shares four court cases involving claims of the supernatural, where the courts didn’t necessarily rule-out the paranormal elements of each lawsuit. In the second segment, Roger Winstead of the Judicial Branch Communications Office narrates the story of John Walker Stephens, a state senator who was murdered in 1870 in the Historic Caswell County Courthouse. Fright Court is an annual episode of All Things Judicial which showcases unexplained occurrences and macabre historical incidents in North Carolina's courthouses. This popular YouTube and podcast series won a first place award for videography from the North Carolina Association of Government Information Officers in 2019 and 2020.Â