Judge Calabria files legal challenge

Dec. 15, 2006

Dear Friend:

In November's election 1,593,171 votes were cast for Justice Wainwright's seat and my opponent, Robin Hudson, won our race for the Supreme Court by 20,551 votes. I received 49.4% of the vote while Hudson received just a little over 1% more, 50.6%. I am very proud of our campaign and appreciate all the support I received from you.

When I filed for public funding, I agreed to solely use the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund to pay expenses in the General Election. I relied upon the State Board of Elections to protect candidates from excessive spending on behalf of candidates for judicial office. I also relied upon the good faith of other political entities in the state to limit their activities so that a greater good could be achieved in bolstering our court system. My faith was misplaced.

On October 31, 2006 , I filed a request for “rescue funds” to restore fairness in the General Election for the North Carolina Supreme Court. I did so because of a huge, last-minute, statewide media campaign by a group called “Fairjudges.net”. This group filed an “electioneering communications” report so they would not have to abide by the contribution and expenditure limitations on political committees. However, if FairJudges was deemed to be a “political committee” by coordinating with a state or local party and by supporting the election of one or more clearly identified candidates, such coordination may render the disbursement for the ad a prohibited expenditure.

FairJudges.net contracted for approximately $204,000 of statewide TV ads in the last week before the election. While these advertisements purport to promote “fairness” in judges, the raising and expenditure of funds by this group undermine the impartiality, credibility, and integrity of the courts to which this group's favored candidates aspire. The co-ordination of these advertisements with other political PACS and federal donors which include corporate and union contributions is especially unsettling.

I appealed both the State Board of Elections' refusal for rescue funds and their refusal to find a violation of election law had occurred. It is my hope that our legal challenge will make it possible for similarly situated future candidates to receive rescue funds in a timely manner and sufficient amounts to restore the balance of fairness in judicial elections. Failing that, I hope our challenge will at least inform the electorate of the utter unfairness and inadequacy of public funding for statewide judicial races. If the system cannot be fair, it must be changed so that judicial candidates can compete on an equal footing.

My effort to restore balance in judicial elections cannot succeed and cannot even go forward without your help. I hope you will consider sending a donation for this cause. Since the Judge Ann Marie Calabria Legal Fund is not a campaign fund, there are no restrictions on the amount or source of the funds raised to support the efforts of this organization.

Thank you for your support and consideration.

Sincerely,

Ann Marie Calabria

Please mail contributions to:
Judge Ann Marie Calabria Legal Fund
PMB 197
1939 High House Road
Cary , NC 27519