All Things Judicial is a podcast about the important role of the North Carolina Judicial Branch in state government. The podcast follows a bi-monthly release schedule with each new episode available for download every other Wednesday beginning February 10, 2021.
On this podcast you’ll hear interviews from recognizable figures in our judicial communities and learn about topics you may not have realized were related to what we do every day – human trafficking prevention, civics education, and the increased modernization of our courts. We think we’ve found a podcast format that really works with rotating guest hosts that will keep each episode fresh and interesting to our listeners.
All Things Judicial is available on all podcast platforms or below on NCcourts.gov.
Episode 26 – This episode of the All Things Judicial podcast features highlights from six of the 25 episodes produced during its inaugural season. Highlights include topics from the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission, Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, Chief Justice’s Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts, North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, and interviews regarding the subjects of Black History Month and the Cherokee Sovereign Nation’s tribal courts.
Launched in February 2021, the podcast focuses on the Judicial Branch’s role as an equal branch of state government by featuring interviews with recognizable Branch officials and covering the many functions, areas of responsibility, innovations, commissions, task forces, and roles within the Branch. All Things Judicial has received approximately 6,000 downloads from listeners in 33 countries.
Judicial Branch staff and officials would like to thank all podcast listeners for their support, and encourage listeners to contact allthingsjudicial@nccourts.org with any feedback on the podcast and suggestions for topics of interest for future episodes.
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Episode 25 – This episode of All Things Judicial focuses on the State Employees Combined Campaign (SECC) and a selection of charities supported by Judicial Branch employees. Chief Justice Paul Newby kicks-off the podcast with a holiday greeting to Branch employees and is followed by a series of interviews with representatives from the SECC, Second Chance Pet Adoptions, North Carolina Museum of Art, and Families Together. A video version of the interviews can be found on the NCcourts YouTube channel.
“As Chief Justice, the head of the Judicial Branch, I want to say how grateful I am for each one of you and all that you do everyday to fulfill our constitutional mandates that the courts will be open and justice will be administered without favor, denial, or delay,” Newby said on the podcast.
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Episode 24 – This episode of All Things Judicial focuses on the historic budget commitments made by the state legislature to the Judicial Branch in the bi-partisan spending plan passed in November 2021. The recent state budget made the largest investment ever in the Judicial Branch, fully funded eCourts modernization, and allowed the Branch to retain hundreds of employees essential to fulfilling the Branch’s constitutional mandate to keep courts open to administer justice.
This episode is hosted by Legislative Liaison Joseph Kyzer and guests include Chuck Spahos, liaison for the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys, and North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts Deputy Director Ryan Boyce.
“This budget truly is transformative for the court system,” Boyce said on the podcast. “It invests in some once-in-a-generation initiatives, eCourts being the main one, but most importantly it invests in our personnel, our people here in the Judicial Branch.”
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Guests
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Episode 23 – This episode of All Things Judicial focuses on the Cherokee Tribal Courts of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. Chief Judge Monty Beck and Associate Judge Barbara “Sunshine” Parker were interviewed and discussed the structure of Cherokee Tribal Courts, jurisdiction over enrolled and non-enrolled individuals, and the effect that gaming has had on the Cherokee sovereign nation.
In addition, judges Beck and Parker offered themselves as resources for North Carolina attorneys and judges who have questions about the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and how it applies in state courts.
“We are a sovereign that I hope attorneys and judges are learning about,” Judge Parker said during the podcast. “I hope the judges who listen are learning ICWA, are learning that it applies in their courts, and that they are going to need to know how to use it.”
Each November, the Judicial Branch recognizes American Indian Heritage Month and celebrates the history and heritage of American Indians in North Carolina.
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Episode 22 – This episode of All Things Judicial features a 2016 interview with the late North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge E. Maurice Braswell. Braswell served as a tail gunner and bombardier in a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress named the “Flaming Arrow” that recorded 41 bombing missions against the Axis Powers during World War II. Judge Braswell recounts several near misses and the harrowing experience of crash landing and being captured as a POW behind enemy lines. Through it all, Braswell shunned the the title of hero and instead embodied a life of service to his country and home state of North Carolina.
“In our generation, there was nothing but a great over-pouring of patriotism and willingness to go to war with Japan and Germany after Pearl Harbor. We felt like we were just doing our duty and being made a hero is still foreign to me in spite of awards,” Judge Braswell said on the podcast. “If I could be of service to my state, I was going to do it. If I could be of service to my family and fellow man, I’m happier doing that.”
After the war, Judge Braswell served as an assistant district attorney and superior court judge in Cumberland County, and served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Braswell died in January 2017 and the new Cumberland County Courthouse was named in his honor.
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Episode 21 – This episode of All Things Judicial is a crossover with the Judicial Branch’s award-winning Fright Court YouTube series, which questions whether some of North Carolina’s courthouses are haunted.
The episode begins by exploring the murder and subsequent alleged hauntings associated with the 1901 death of Elizabeth City resident Nell Cropsey. State Archivist Sarah Koonts walks us through the original Supreme Court of North Carolina case files related to the trial of Cropsey’s accused murderer, Jim Wilcox, who is believed to be the only defendant to appear twice before the high court.
In the second segment, a “paranormal investigation team” conducts a “ghost hunt” in the historic Cumberland County courthouse and seeks to answer the question as to whether North Carolina’s courthouses are haunted. A video of the investigation is posted on the NCcourts YouTube channel.
AWARDS
Released on YouTube each Halloween season, the Judicial Branch’s Fright Court and Haunted Courthouses of North Carolina series have proven to be the most popular videos on the NCcourts YouTube channel. Designed to draw attention to the Branch in a fun and interesting way, the series is on its twelfth episode and has earned almost 8,500 views. In addition, the North Carolina Association of Government Information Officers awarded the Fright Court video series first place in videography in 2019 and 2020. This is the first crossover episode with the All Things Judicial podcast.
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Episode 20 – This episode of All Things Judicial features Alternative Dispute Resolution, highlights the work of the Dispute Resolution Commission, and focuses on the Administrative Office of the Court’s promotion of mediation and arbitration in North Carolina. The episode was released today in celebration of Conflict Resolution Day on October 21, and Dispute Resolution Week which is recognized by the American Bar Association as the third week in October. Guests include Judge Phyllis Gorham, Tara Kozlowski, and Maureen Robinson with an introduction given by Chief Justice Paul Newby.
“Our state constitution guarantees the courts shall be open and justice is to be administered without favor, denial, or delay. Our alternative resolution groups allow us to make these constitutional promises a reality,” Chief Justice Newby said on the podcast. “North Carolina has demonstrated a strong commitment to developing programs which promote dispute resolution in our courts.”
EPISODE GUESTS
Judge Phyllis Gorham, New Hanover County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge and Chairwoman of the Dispute Resolution Commission
Tara Kozlowski, Executive Director, Dispute Resolution Commission
Maureen Robinson, Administrative Assistant, Dispute Resolution Commission
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Episode 19 – This episode of All Things Judicial features the final part of a three-part series on the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission (NCIIC). This episode is hosted by Executive Director Lindsey Guice Smith and focuses on the roles and experiences of the Commission’s staff. In one riveting segment, staff members give firsthand accounts of their participation in investigations that uncovered post-conviction evidence that led to the exoneration of incarcerated individuals. This episode’s guests are Catherine Matoan, Beth Tanner, and Brian Ziegler.
“A large percentage of Commission cases that have resulted in exonerations came after we located evidence that someone else said had been destroyed,” Lindsey Guice Smith said on the podcast. “It’s really important that we do those searches, ask those questions, and do those follow-ups.”
GUESTS
Lindsey Guice Smith, Executive Director
Beth Tanner, Associate Director
Catherine Matoan, Grant Staff Attorney
Brian Ziegler, Staff Attorney
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Episode 18 – This episode of All Things Judicial celebrates Constitution Day (September 17) with a visit to the North Carolina State Archives and a viewing of some of North Carolina’s most precious historic documents. Division of Archives and Records Director Sarah Koonts led the tour where she shared original colonial court records. Koonts then opened the State Archive’s vault for the inspection of some of North Carolina’s national treasures, including an original copy of the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Later in the episode, Chief Justice Paul Newby detailed an account of the theft of this copy of the Bill of Rights from the North Carolina State Capitol during the American Civil War, and his participation in an FBI sting operation that recovered it in 2003.
“The Bill of Rights is so beautiful and has such a great story about its theft and recovery,” said Sarah Koonts. “I always feel special when I look at that document.”
GUESTS
Sarah Koonts, Director of the Division of Archives and Records, is North Carolina’s state archivist and deputy secretary at the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. She became North Carolina’s State Archivist in 2012. Working with a staff of nearly 70, Koonts is responsible for the statewide archives and records management programs operated by the division.
Chief Justice Paul Newby, the 30th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, first was elected to the Supreme Court as Associate Justice in 2004 and was elevated to the highest judicial office in North Carolina in the 2020 election.
In 1985, Chief Justice Newby was appointed as an assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina in Raleigh, where he served for over 19 years. During this time, he played an integral role in conducting the undercover sting operation that recovered North Carolina’s original copy of the Bill of Rights, stolen in the aftermath of the Civil War.
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Episode 17 – This episode of All Things Judicial features excerpts from an interview with former Chief Justice Rhoda Billings. The interview was conducted in 2016 by former president of the North Carolina Bar Association, John R. “Buddy” Wester, as part of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism’s Historical Video Series. During her career, Chief Justice Billings served as a district court judge, associate justice, and the 22nd chief justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. She was the second woman associate justice and second woman to serve as chief justice. In addition, she is the only person to have served as president of the North Carolina Bar Association and chief justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
EPISODE INTERVIEWER AND GUESTS
Former Chief Justice Rhoda Billings is a native of Wilkesboro and was the only woman in the class of 1966 at Wake Forest University School of Law, where she graduated first in her class. She practiced law with her husband, Don Billings, from 1966 to 1968, and served as a U.S. Bankruptcy Chapter 13 Trustee from 1966 to 1967. When the district court system was established in North Carolina, Chief Justice Billings was one of five successful candidates and the only woman elected to serve in Forsyth County. She joined the law school faculty at Wake Forest in 1973, serving one year as an assistant professor of law and as an associate professor of law from 1974 to 1979. She attained the rank of professor in 1980.
While on leave from the law school from August 1984 to January 1987, Chief Justice Billings practiced with Billings, Burns and Wells, chaired the North Carolina Parole Commission, and served on the Supreme Court in 1985 to 1986. She also served as a member of the State Judicial Council, an advisory and oversight body for the North Carolina Judicial Branch that helps to study and monitor the operations of the court system and identify areas for improvement.
Chief Justice Billings also served extensively with the North Carolina Bar Association throughout her distinguished career. She became the first woman to serve as its president and is the second woman to receive the Judge John J. Parker Award.
John R. “Buddy” Wester is a litigator at the Charlotte law firm of Robinson Bradshaw. Mr. Wester has also served as president of the North Carolina Bar Association and as a member of the North Carolina Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism.
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Episode 16 – This episode of All Things Judicial features part two of a three-part series on the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission. Part two is hosted by Associate Director Beth Tanner and focuses on the Commission’s victim services. This episode’s guests are Robin Colbert, Katie Monroe, and Emma Paul. Part three of this series will be released in September and will focus on the work and roles of the Commission staff. “We have really worked hard on making sure we are focusing on the victim’s experiences and making sure they have a space to be heard and are informed about the process when they should be,” Beth Tanner said on the podcast.
EPISODE HOST AND GUESTS
Beth Tanner, Associate Director, North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission
Robin Colbert, Associate Director, North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault; and Commissioner, North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission
Katie Monroe, Executive Director, Healing Justice
Emma Paul, Victim Services Coordinator, North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission
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Episode 15 – This episode of All Things Judicial focuses on civics education in North Carolina. It begins with interviews with social studies teachers about their experiences with teaching students about our systems of government. Later in the episode, you will hear from Chief Justice Paul Newby and Associate Justice Samuel Ervin IV who led the Supreme Court of North Carolina’s civics education outreach in 2019. Listeners will also learn about the Judicial Branch’s free civics education materials and Speakers Bureau that are available to educators and others who are interested in making civics education more accessible in North Carolina.
“I hope to inspire students to dig deeper to see that the American experiment is payed forward one generation at a time,” Chief Justice Newby said on the podcast. “It will be up to them to look at who we are as a people and make the determination how to shape us.”
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Episode 14 – This episode features part one of a three-part series on the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission. It examines the purpose of the Commission, gives an overview of its structure, and commissioners share why they volunteered for their roles and detail the most interesting cases of their tenures. Parts two and three will be released in August and September and will focus on the Commission’s victim advocates and the Commission staff.
“Despite our best efforts, mistakes are made. There has to be a system that can correct these mistakes because if there isn’t, everybody loses,” Commissioner Boswell said on the podcast. “I wish everyone understood the importance of the Commission and all the factors that come into play.”
EPISODE HOST AND GUESTS
Episode 13 – July is Juror Appreciation Month in North Carolina and the most recent episode of All Things Judicial focuses on jury service. The host and guests explore the history of jury service, what to expect when asked to serve on a jury, and dispel common myths about jury service. In the second segment of the episode, All Things Judicial conducts interviews with average North Carolinians about their thoughts on jury service.
“Jury service is a vital part of our country,” Wake County Clerk of Superior Court Blair Williams said on the podcast. “Jurors play a part in our judicial system and that is what makes us unique in this world.”
EPISODE GUESTS
Episode 12 – This episode of All Things Judicial focuses on ACEs-informed courts. ACEs refers to adverse childhood experiences of some children who appear in North Carolina courts. In May, the Judicial Branch formed the Chief Justice’s Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts to examine the impact of ACEs on children and develop strategies for addressing adverse childhood experiences within our court system. This episode’s guests include NCAOC Director Judge Andrew Heath, District Attorney Ben David, Bolch Judicial Institute Assistant Director of Special Projects Amelia Thorn, and Court Management Specialist Lori Cole.
“We can prevent crime, not just respond to it,” District Attorney Ben David said on the podcast. “If we all get on the same page with what it truly means to be trauma informed, to be ACEs informed, we know the path forward and we need to act now.”
EPISODE GUESTS
Judge Andrew Heath, Director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, and Co-Chair of the Chief Justice’s Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts.
Ben David, District Attorney for New Hanover and Pender Counties, and Co-Chair of the Chief Justice’s Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts.
Amelia Thorn, Bolch Judicial Institute Assistant Director of Special Projects, Articles Editor at Judicature, and Member of the Chief Justice’s Task Force on ACEs-Informed Courts.
Lori C. Cole, Court Management Specialist for the North Carolina Judicial Branch.
Episode 11 – This episode of All Things Judicial features excerpts from an interview with former Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. The interview was conducted in 2006 by former Associate Justice Willis Whichard as part of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism’s Historical Video Series. Chief Justice Lake served as a superior court judge, associate justice, and chief justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. In 2002, Lake established the Criminal Justice Study Commission to review factors that may contribute to wrongful convictions in North Carolina. The study commission recommended reforms which led to the creation of the Innocence Inquiry Commission in 2006.
“We have the best criminal justice system in the world, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make it better,” former Chief Justice Lake said in the podcast. “It is incumbent on members of the legal profession to take that leadership role, step into that public service arena, accept that responsibility, and teach and guide and lead our people in the right direction pursuant to the blueprint laid out in our Constitution.”
Interviewer and Guest
Episode 10 – In this episode, All Things Judicial takes a deep-dive into the history, story, and controversy surrounding this event. Guests are Chief Justice Paul Newby who shares the origins of our rights and liberties contained in America’s founding documents, and Robert Ryals who takes listeners on a tour of Charlotte’s Liberty Walk to visit historical locations around the Queen City. In addition, author and attorney Scott Syfret discusses the controversy surrounding the declaration and its impact on North Carolina and the city of Charlotte over the years.
“The ‘shot heard round the world’ is the fact that our rights don’t come from King George. Our rights come from a higher source,” Chief Justice Newby said in the podcast. “That’s the beauty of our system where we say our rights come from God, our creator, that all are created equal and are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.”
Guests
Episode 9 – This episode focuses on North Carolina’s recovery courts which handle chemically dependent adults and juveniles in criminal court. Recovery courts also serve juveniles with abuse, neglect, and dependency cases, veterans, and people with mental health issues who find themselves in court. The program offers individualized treatment plans which include counseling, supervision, drug testing, sanctions, and incentives for meeting recovery goals.
The host for this episode is Yolonda M. Woodhouse, court management specialist for Court Programs. Guests are: (in order of appearance) Janeanne Gonzales, treatment court administrator for the Mecklenburg County Recovery Courts, Special Superior Court Judge J. Stanly Carmical, the original judge for the Robeson County treatment court, and District Court Judge James H. Faison who serves in New Hanover County’s recovery courts.
“Recovery courts are a program that truly does save lives. We can help that person regain their lives, and then as a result of that, they are able to reconnect with family,” Judge James Faison said in the podcast. “It really doesn’t get any better than that.”
Host: Yolonda Woodhouse, court management specialist for Court Programs
Guests (in order of appearance):
Episode 8 – In this episode, Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism Executive Director Mel Wright discusses and shares excerpts from a 2017 interview with former North Carolina Court of Appeals Chief Judge Gerald Arnold. Judge Arnold shares his experience arguing before the original members of the Court of Appeals, joining that Court as a judge then later as chief judge. Judge Arnold was instrumental in a restoration project in the 1990s that restored and preserved the historical value of the Court of Appeals’ courtroom ceiling. In addition to providing insight into the Court’s history, Judge Arnold gives time-tested professionalism advice for lawyers.
“There is nothing more important than the concept of professionalism,” Judge Arnold said. “Treat another lawyer the way you want that lawyer to treat you. It’s the golden rule and your momma taught you that.”
Host: Chris Mears, North Carolina Judicial Branch Communications Office
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Episode 7 – In this bonus episode released on the 245th anniversary of the Halifax Resolves, we take listeners on a trip to the Historic District in Halifax, North Carolina, to speak with Frank McMahon, a historic interpreter with the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Frank shares what life was like in 18th/19th century Halifax, North Carolina. Then, Chief Justice Paul Newby joins us in studio for a discussion about the Halifax Resolves and the events leading up to its adoption on April 12, 1776.
“We were the first state to authorize our delegates to vote for independence,” said Chief Justice Newby in the podcast. “As the Halifax Resolves authorized our delegates to vote for freedom, it implicitly said that we are going to form our own constitution.”
Host: Camden Roessler, North Carolina Judicial Branch Communications Office
Guests (in order of appearance):
Episode 6 – This episode features the North Carolina Guardian ad Litem (GAL) program which equips community volunteers to serve abused and neglected children by advocating for their best interests in court. This episode’s guests are GAL volunteers who share why they decided to volunteer, their experiences in the program, and the joys and challenges of representing children in the court system.
“Children deserve to be protected. Children deserve to be nurtured and to be cared-for,” GAL advocate Julia Lee said in the podcast. “Yes, it can be really, really hard. It can also be really, really sad, but it can be the most rewarding thing you will ever do.”
Host: Bwana Bomani, Recruitment and Retention Specialist with the North Carolina Guardian ad Litem program.
Guests:
Episode 5 – This episode celebrates women’s history in the Judicial Branch and is hosted by former North Carolina Court of Appeals Chief Judge Linda McGee. Guests include current Court of Appeals Chief Judge Donna Stroud, Court of Appeals Judge Lucy Inman, and Court of Appeals Judge Valerie Zachary. They discuss their paths to the bench, the people who influenced their lives, and organizations that they found particularly meaningful throughout their careers.
“When I came there I was the only woman on the Court. Our numbers continued to grow and within a few years we had our first all woman panel, and a few years after that, we actually had a majority of women on the Court of Appeals,” former Chief Judge McGee said in the podcast. “It’s been great to be able to have one another to be able to talk with, be able to share stories with, and be encouraged by.”
Host: former Court of Appeals Chief Judge Linda McGee
Guests:
Episode 4 – This episode begins with Supreme Court of North Carolina Clerk of Court Amy Funderburk who shares her impression of the Court’s grand courtroom, and identified historic courtroom artifacts that are hidden in plain sight. In addition, Supreme Court of North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby introduces excerpts from remarks given by North Carolina’s newest appellate court judges during their investiture ceremonies held earlier this year.
The Supreme Court investiture excerpts included in this podcast episode are from Chief Justice Newby, Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr., and Associate Justice Tamara Patterson Barringer. They were formally installed at the Supreme Court of North Carolina on January 6, 2021. The audio was taken from the virtual swearing-in ceremony that was streamed online for guests, the media, and the public.
The excerpts for the North Carolina Court of Appeals investiture ceremonies are from Judge Jeffery K. Carpenter, Judge April C. Wood, Judge Fred Gore, Judge Jefferson Griffin, and Judge Darren Jackson. They were formally installed at the North Carolina Court of Appeals on January 14, 2021, and as with the Supreme Court excerpts, the audio was taken from the virtual swearing-in ceremony streamed online.
Episode 3 – Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism Executive Director Mel Wright welcomes Kinston attorney James S. “Jimbo” Perry to All Things Judicial. They discuss Jimbo’s career as an attorney and the calculus that many lawyers make between prioritizing work over people and relationships in their lives. Jimbo shared his personal experiences and desires to bring about change in his community through acts of service.
“One of the struggles that we as attorneys have is we sometimes work so hard that we don’t take care of the things that are most important,” Jimbo Perry said during the podcast. “The way to have joy and happiness is not by having and getting but by giving and serving.”
Host: Mel Wright, Executive Director of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism
Guest:
Episode 2 – In this episode hosted by Supreme Court of North Carolina Associate Justice Michael Morgan and entitled “Black History Made Me Who I Am,” Justice Morgan welcomed retired Court of Appeals Judge Wanda Bryant and current Court of Appeals Judge Fred Gore. They discussed their journeys from “birth to bench,” mentors who influenced their lives, and advice they would like to share with the next generation of African Americans entering the legal profession. Justice Morgan and Judge Bryant shared their personal experiences of being the first African American children integrated into their local elementary schools. Judge Gore shared his deep commitment to using his judgeship as a positive influence on the youth in his community.
Host: Supreme Court of North Carolina Associate Justice Michael Morgan
Guests:
Episode 1 – In its inaugural episode, All Things Judicial highlights the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission and its mission to prevent human trafficking in North Carolina. Hosted by North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission Executive Director Christine Long, the episode focuses on the role of the Commission and delves into the grim realities of human trafficking in our state, signs to look for, and how to prevent this horrific crime.
Host: Christine Long, Executive Director, North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission
Trailer – In this trailer for the new podcast All Things Judicial, Chief Justice Paul Newby shares information about the podcast and his vision for the North Carolina Judicial Branch.
Do you have feedback or episode ideas? Please reach out to AllThingsJudicial@nccourts.org.
