I. Beverly Lake, Jr. Chair in Constitutional Studies and Senior Counsel at the John Locke Foundation., John Locke Foundation
Jeanette Doran is the I. Beverly Lake, Jr. Chair in Constitutional Studies and Senior Counsel at the John Locke Foundation.
Doran began her legal career as a federal law clerk in the Middle District of North Carolina after graduating with honors from Campbell Law School. She then served as the Research and Writing Attorney in the appeals section of the Federal Public Defender’s Office, appearing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In 2004, she joined the UNC–Chapel Hill School of Government, and a year later became staff attorney at NCICL, ultimately rising to executive director in 2011. Appointed in 2013 by the Governor to chair the Division of Employment Security’s Board of Review, she completed that public service in 2019.
Doran is also the president of the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law (NCICL), and she serves on the state’s Rules Review Commission. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit, multiple federal district courts, and all North Carolina courts. Doran holds a Juris Doctor from Campbell University.
Trial Attorney, Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice (incoming)
Adam Griffin is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law. During law school, he served as a research assistant to Professor Stephen E. Sachs and UNC Law Dean Martin Brinkley. After law school, he spent two years litigating for liberty at the Institute for Justice as an inaugural Law and Liberty Fellow. He served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Richard E. Myers in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and is now a separation-of-powers attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation.
President, John William Pope Foundation
John Hood is president of the John William Pope Foundation. Hood also serves on the board of the John Locke Foundation, the state policy think tank he helped found in 1989 and led as its president for more than two decades.
Since 1986, Hood has written a syndicated column on politics and public policy for North Carolina newspapers. It appears regularly in more than 50 papers across the state. A frequent radio and television commentator, Hood is the author of seven nonfiction books on such subjects as business, advertising, public policy, and political history. His latest three books — Mountain Folk, Forest Folk, and Water Folk — are historical-fantasy novels set in early America.
A former Bradley Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Hood teaches at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. His articles have appeared in magazines such as Readers’ Digest, The New Republic, National Review, Military History, and Reason as well as newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. His broadcast appearances include CNN, NBC News, National Public Radio, and Fox News.
At Locke, Hood created the E.A. Morris Fellowship for Emerging Leaders, which prepares young North Carolinians for leadership roles in the public and private sectors. He also serves on the faculty and as board chair of the NC Institute of Public Leadership; as co-chair of the North Carolina Leadership Forum, based at Duke University; as vice-chair of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, State Policy Network, and the Carolina Liberty Foundation; and on the board the Student Free Press Association.
Hood received his BA in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he serves as vice chair of North Carolina Public Radio-WUNC and on the foundation board of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. He earned a MA in liberal studies and a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from UNC-Greensboro.
A native of Mecklenburg County, Hood now resides in Wake County with his wife, two sons, and a stepdaughter.
Associate, Burr & Forman LLP
Wade is a litigator with the firm’s General Commercial Litigation group, and his practice spans from the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina to the Lowcountry of South Carolina. He works regularly with clients across several industries and sectors, including white collar defense, antitrust, government investigations, construction, appellate, commercial disputes, labor and employment, and financial services.
With first-chair jury trial and bench trial experience, as well as appellate litigation experience before state and federal courts of appeal, Wade understands how critical it is to create a strong record from the commencement of litigation, and even prior to that time.
Wade recognizes that each client has unique needs, and he works closely with clients to develop a strategy tailored to meet those requirements. For some clients, this may include an aggressive litigation strategy designed to bring an efficient resolution to a dispute; for others, it may require a carefully-managed campaign to limit negative fallout or collateral damage. Wade understands that consistency creates results. Whether it’s a relatively small monetary dispute or bet-the-business litigation, Wade’s consistent and even-keeled approach to problem-solving puts clients first and helps achieve positive outcomes.
Outside the office, Wade is an avid golfer and serves as a volunteer baseball coach at for the varsity team at Charlotte Country Day School and an assistant coach for the Queen City Mustangs, Charlotte’s American Legion Baseball team.
Wade earned his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law and his B.A. in Political Science from Davidson College. Before joining Burr & Forman, Wade clerked for The Honorable Frank D. Whitney, United States District Court Judge for the Western District of North Carolina.
Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Chief Justice Paul Newby was born in Asheboro and grew up in Jamestown, N.C. He received his B.A. degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.
Chief Justice Newby was first elected to the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice in 2004. He was elevated to the highest judicial office in North Carolina in the 2020 election. As Chief Justice, he is head of the Judicial Branch, a co-equal branch of state government with the Legislative and Executive branches. He is entrusted with leading the Judicial Branch and its 7,600 elected officials and employees.
He is an adjunct professor of law at Campbell University and has published a book on the North Carolina Constitution.
Chief Justice Newby’s legal experience includes private practice and corporate inhouse legal counsel. He also served almost 20 years as an Assistant United States Attorney, during which 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.
Chief Justice Newby is an Eagle Scout and is the recipient of the Heroism Award (for rescuing nine people from a riptide), the God and Service Award, the Silver Beaver Award, and the Scouter of the Year Award. In 2012, he was designated a Distinguished Eagle Scout, a national honor that recognizes both his service to the Boy Scouts and his dedication to public service.
Chief Justice Newby has been married to Macon Tucker Newby since 1983, and they have four children. He is active in his local church, where he serves as a teacher and mentor to young professionals.
Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Chief Justice Paul Newby was born in Asheboro and grew up in Jamestown, N.C. He received his B.A. degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.
Chief Justice Newby was first elected to the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice in 2004. He was elevated to the highest judicial office in North Carolina in the 2020 election. As Chief Justice, he is head of the Judicial Branch, a co-equal branch of state government with the Legislative and Executive branches. He is entrusted with leading the Judicial Branch and its 7,600 elected officials and employees.
He is an adjunct professor of law at Campbell University and has published a book on the North Carolina Constitution.
Chief Justice Newby’s legal experience includes private practice and corporate inhouse legal counsel. He also served almost 20 years as an Assistant United States Attorney, during which 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.
Chief Justice Newby is an Eagle Scout and is the recipient of the Heroism Award (for rescuing nine people from a riptide), the God and Service Award, the Silver Beaver Award, and the Scouter of the Year Award. In 2012, he was designated a Distinguished Eagle Scout, a national honor that recognizes both his service to the Boy Scouts and his dedication to public service.
Chief Justice Newby has been married to Macon Tucker Newby since 1983, and they have four children. He is active in his local church, where he serves as a teacher and mentor to young professionals.
Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Chief Justice Paul Newby was born in Asheboro and grew up in Jamestown, N.C. He received his B.A. degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.
Chief Justice Newby was first elected to the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice in 2004. He was elevated to the highest judicial office in North Carolina in the 2020 election. As Chief Justice, he is head of the Judicial Branch, a co-equal branch of state government with the Legislative and Executive branches. He is entrusted with leading the Judicial Branch and its 7,600 elected officials and employees.
He is an adjunct professor of law at Campbell University and has published a book on the North Carolina Constitution.
Chief Justice Newby’s legal experience includes private practice and corporate inhouse legal counsel. He also served almost 20 years as an Assistant United States Attorney, during which 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.
Chief Justice Newby is an Eagle Scout and is the recipient of the Heroism Award (for rescuing nine people from a riptide), the God and Service Award, the Silver Beaver Award, and the Scouter of the Year Award. In 2012, he was designated a Distinguished Eagle Scout, a national honor that recognizes both his service to the Boy Scouts and his dedication to public service.
Chief Justice Newby has been married to Macon Tucker Newby since 1983, and they have four children. He is active in his local church, where he serves as a teacher and mentor to young professionals.
Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Chief Justice Paul Newby was born in Asheboro and grew up in Jamestown, N.C. He received his B.A. degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.
Chief Justice Newby was first elected to the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice in 2004. He was elevated to the highest judicial office in North Carolina in the 2020 election. As Chief Justice, he is head of the Judicial Branch, a co-equal branch of state government with the Legislative and Executive branches. He is entrusted with leading the Judicial Branch and its 7,600 elected officials and employees.
He is an adjunct professor of law at Campbell University and has published a book on the North Carolina Constitution.
Chief Justice Newby’s legal experience includes private practice and corporate inhouse legal counsel. He also served almost 20 years as an Assistant United States Attorney, during which 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.
Chief Justice Newby is an Eagle Scout and is the recipient of the Heroism Award (for rescuing nine people from a riptide), the God and Service Award, the Silver Beaver Award, and the Scouter of the Year Award. In 2012, he was designated a Distinguished Eagle Scout, a national honor that recognizes both his service to the Boy Scouts and his dedication to public service.
Chief Justice Newby has been married to Macon Tucker Newby since 1983, and they have four children. He is active in his local church, where he serves as a teacher and mentor to young professionals.
Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Chief Justice Paul Newby was born in Asheboro and grew up in Jamestown, N.C. He received his B.A. degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.
Chief Justice Newby was first elected to the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice in 2004. He was elevated to the highest judicial office in North Carolina in the 2020 election. As Chief Justice, he is head of the Judicial Branch, a co-equal branch of state government with the Legislative and Executive branches. He is entrusted with leading the Judicial Branch and its 7,600 elected officials and employees.
He is an adjunct professor of law at Campbell University and has published a book on the North Carolina Constitution.
Chief Justice Newby’s legal experience includes private practice and corporate inhouse legal counsel. He also served almost 20 years as an Assistant United States Attorney, during which 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.
Chief Justice Newby is an Eagle Scout and is the recipient of the Heroism Award (for rescuing nine people from a riptide), the God and Service Award, the Silver Beaver Award, and the Scouter of the Year Award. In 2012, he was designated a Distinguished Eagle Scout, a national honor that recognizes both his service to the Boy Scouts and his dedication to public service.
Chief Justice Newby has been married to Macon Tucker Newby since 1983, and they have four children. He is active in his local church, where he serves as a teacher and mentor to young professionals.
Associate, Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC
Ken Daines is an associate at Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC. His practice focuses on trial and appellate litigation in federal and state courts, including matters presenting constitutional law, redistricting, and election-related issues.
Before joining the firm, Ken clerked for Judge Ryan D. Nelson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Dee V. Benson on the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. He also practiced election law and government ethics at a large law firm in Washington, D.C.
Ken earned his J.D. from Stanford Law School and a B.A. in International Relations and Chinese, magna cum laude, from Brigham Young University. While in law school, he worked as a student attorney for the Religious Liberty Clinic and served as Executive Vice-President for the Stanford Law chapter of the Federalist Society. Ken is a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland Bars, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, and the Federalist Society.
Andrew Pardue is an associate at Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky Josefiak PLLC specializing in election and campaign finance law.
Prior to joining the firm, Andrew served as a law clerk for the D.C. Criminal Code Reform Commission and the Office of the Virginia Attorney General’s Civil Litigation Division, Consumer Protection Section. He also interned in the chambers of Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leonard of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Andrew graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Government and a secondary concentration in Economics. He earned his J.D. from William & Mary Law School. While in law school, he served as Senior Notes Editor on the William & Mary Law Review and authored a published student note on congressional investigations of the executive branch. He also served as a graduate research fellow with the Center for the Study of Law and Markets. Andrew is a member of the Virginia Bar, the Federalist Society, and the Republican National Lawyers Association.
Senior Associate, Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC
Drew Watkins is a senior associate with Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky PLLC, providing counsel in the areas of campaign finance and election law, lobbying and ethics compliance, and tax-exempt organizations.
Prior to joining the firm, Drew served as a law clerk to the Honorable Joseph R. Goeke, Senior Judge of the United States Tax Court in Washington, D.C., and worked in the Office of General Counsel for the Governor of Kentucky, Matthew G. Bevin. While in law school, Drew served as a law clerk for the Kentucky Executive Branch Ethics Commission and interned for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in his office in Washington, D.C.
Drew graduated from the University of Louisville with a B.S. in Justice Administration. He earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Kentucky College of Law and was a member of the Order of the Coif. During law school, he served as a senior staff editor on the Kentucky Law Journal and authored a published student note on the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act. He is a member of the Kentucky, D.C. and Virginia bars and the Federalist Society.
Associate Counsel, Lawyers Democracy Fund
Fmr. Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Chief Justice Cheri Beasley has spent more than 20 years dedicated to the rule of law. She began her judicial career as a district court judge in Cumberland County, where she served for a decade before being elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2008. She served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court of North Carolina for seven years before being appointed by Governor Roy Cooper to lead the Supreme Court and North Carolina's third branch of government, the Judicial Branch. She is the first African-American woman in the Supreme Court’s 200-year history to serve as Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Beasley has spent her entire career advocating for courts that are independent, fair, and accessible, and that serve every person with dignity and respect. As Chief Justice, she is advocating for a court system that not only solves legal disputes, but also helps people better their lives. By engaging local judges, educators and law enforcement, she is helping to reform discipline in our schools and keeping kids out of our courtrooms. She is committed to expanding specialized treatment courts that better serve the needs of North Carolina’s children and families. She is also working to leverage the power of technology to make sure our courts are efficient and accessible.
She has lectured extensively to promote the administration of justice, the importance of an independent judiciary, and fair judicial selection. She is active in her community through leadership in her church, First Baptist of Raleigh, her support of hunger relief efforts, and her mentoring of students from elementary school to law school. She is a graduate of Douglass College of Rutgers University, the University of Tennessee College of Law, and Duke University School of Law where she obtained her LL.M. She and her husband, Curtis Owens, are the proud parents of twin sons, Thomas and Matthew.
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of North Carolina
Phil was born in Danville, Virginia on March 26, 1972, to Philip and Pat Berger. Phil is a 1990 graduate of Morehead High School in Eden, North Carolina. He graduated from UNC-Wilmington in 1994 with a B.A. in History, and earned his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1999.
Phil began his legal career in private practice in 1999. From 2001 through 2006, he joined his father and brother, Kevin, forming The Berger Law Firm. In 2006, Phil was elected District Attorney in the 17A Prosecutorial District and was re-elected in 2010.
While serving as District Attorney, Phil was the chair of Project SAFE Rockingham County. A collaboration with the US Attorney's Office and local law enforcement, Project SAFE implemented the “focused-deterrence” model for reducing violent crime among recidivists and gang members. In 2013-14, he served as President of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys. Phil represented the National District Attorneys Association in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a Non-Governmental Observer to the United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, et al hearings.
From 2015-2016, Phil served as an Administrative Law Judge with the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings. He was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2016. In 2020, Phil was elected to the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
Phil has a passion for helping young people. He serves as a volunteer assistant coach with the baseball team at Cedar Ridge High School. Phil previously coached football at the high school level, and he has also coached youth football with the Durham Firebirds and Greensboro Eagles. Phil was the founder and chair of Eden Youth Football, and he served as a board member and basketball coach with Bethany Community Middle School.
Phil is married to Jodie Church, a public school teacher. They have two children, Philip III and Will.
Associate Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Lucy Inman, a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, is a candidate for the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2020. Judge Inman was elected statewide to the Court of Appeals in 2014.
Judge Inman was raised in Raleigh by parents who taught her the value of hard work and respect for people of all races, faiths, and walks of life. She graduated from Sanderson High School and earned a degree in English from N.C. State University.
Judge Inman’s first career was as a newspaper reporter. While covering court proceedings, she was inspired to participate in the justice system. She then moved to Chapel Hill and earned her law degree from UNC School of Law in 1990. Her first job after law school was working as a law clerk for North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Exum.
Judge Inman went on to practice civil litigation for 18 years, first in Los Angeles and then back home in Raleigh. Her clients included small business owners, large corporations, famous individuals, and lesser known -- but no less important -- survivors of negligence, fraud, and sexual abuse.
In 2010, Judge Inman was appointed by Governor Beverly Perdue to serve as a special superior court judge. She served in that role for four years, presiding in hearings and jury trials across North Carolina. Since her election to the Court of Appeals, Judge Inman has authored over 400 appellate decisions in a wide variety of cases, including criminal, civil, and constitutional disputes. She has presided in thousands of other cases.
Judge Inman brings hard work and respect for all others to her personal and professional life every day. She hopes to bring these values, and equal justice for all, to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Judge Inman and her husband Billy Warden live in Raleigh. They have two college-age children and a black lab rescue who keeps their nest from ever being empty.
Vice President of Marketing and Communications, John Locke Foundation
As Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Donna shares the foundation’s message of freedom, free markets, and limited government across media platforms. She co-hosts Carolina Journal Radio, a weekly syndicated radio show produced by JLF and heard on more than a dozen stations across North Carolina. Donna came to JLF in 2003 after freelance writing for Carolina Journal and contributing to projects for the North Carolina Education Alliance. Her career has been spent in marketing, public relations, and broadcasting, and includes time at UNC-TV and The Arizona Republic, the daily newspaper serving metropolitan Phoenix. Donna is a graduate of Arizona State University and is married to Rick Martinez. She and Rick co-host “You Don’t Say,” a daily radio talk show heard on NewsRadio 680 WPTF in the Triangle.
Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Chief Justice Paul Newby was born in Asheboro and grew up in Jamestown, N.C. He received his B.A. degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.
Chief Justice Newby was first elected to the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice in 2004. He was elevated to the highest judicial office in North Carolina in the 2020 election. As Chief Justice, he is head of the Judicial Branch, a co-equal branch of state government with the Legislative and Executive branches. He is entrusted with leading the Judicial Branch and its 7,600 elected officials and employees.
He is an adjunct professor of law at Campbell University and has published a book on the North Carolina Constitution.
Chief Justice Newby’s legal experience includes private practice and corporate inhouse legal counsel. He also served almost 20 years as an Assistant United States Attorney, during which 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.
Chief Justice Newby is an Eagle Scout and is the recipient of the Heroism Award (for rescuing nine people from a riptide), the God and Service Award, the Silver Beaver Award, and the Scouter of the Year Award. In 2012, he was designated a Distinguished Eagle Scout, a national honor that recognizes both his service to the Boy Scouts and his dedication to public service.
Chief Justice Newby has been married to Macon Tucker Newby since 1983, and they have four children. He is active in his local church, where he serves as a teacher and mentor to young professionals.
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of North Carolina
Tamara Patterson Barringer is the 101st Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
Justice Barringer teaches Law and Ethics to Master of Accounting and Undergraduate Business students at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she has served on the faculty for 15 years. Tamara also serves as the Director and Lead Faculty for the Master of Accounting Mentorship Program, a diversity, equity, and inclusion program, which she founded over a decade ago to introduce careers in accounting and business to first generation and under-represented minority undergraduate students.
Justice Barringer has also taught as an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at North Carolina State University and later designed and taught the first business law paralegal program curriculum at Meredith College.
Justice Barringer began her legal career in private practice in 1985 with Poyner and Spruill, being mentored closely by attorneys Nat Townsend, Curtis Twiddy, and Maria Lynch. She then founded the Barringer Sasser, LLP law firm in Cary in 1988 with her husband, Brent. As Managing Partner, she gained over 20 years’ experience representing entrepreneurs and small business clients in business and tax law, estate planning, and estate administration matters.
Justice Barringer served as a North Carolina Senator, representing District 17 in Southern Wake County from 2012 to 2018. She served as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee for General Government and Information Technology Appropriations.
Justice Barringer’s lifelong mission for healthy children and families in North Carolina began when she and her husband, Brent, served as therapeutic foster parents for the Methodist Home for Children for over 10 years. Through her work in the General Assembly as Chair of the Permanency Innovation Initiative, partnering with the Dave Thomas Foundation and Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program, 300 older North Carolina children, who had very little chance of being adopted, now have permanent, loving, and stable homes.
Justice Barringer’s life journey began on her family’s farm in Patterson Springs, Cleveland County, North Carolina, growing up with three younger sisters outside Shelby. After graduating from Crest High School in 1977, she became the first member of her family to ever graduate from college when she earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Highest Honors in 1981 from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her Juris Doctor with Honors from the UNC School of Law in 1985, after serving on the North Carolina Law Review and being inducted into the Order of the Coif.
Justice Barringer is married to her college sweetheart, Brent, and have three adopted children, Jessica, John Charles, and Emily, and two rescue dogs, Lilah and Baloo.
Fmr. Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Chief Justice Cheri Beasley has spent more than 20 years dedicated to the rule of law. She began her judicial career as a district court judge in Cumberland County, where she served for a decade before being elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2008. She served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court of North Carolina for seven years before being appointed by Governor Roy Cooper to lead the Supreme Court and North Carolina's third branch of government, the Judicial Branch. She is the first African-American woman in the Supreme Court’s 200-year history to serve as Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Beasley has spent her entire career advocating for courts that are independent, fair, and accessible, and that serve every person with dignity and respect. As Chief Justice, she is advocating for a court system that not only solves legal disputes, but also helps people better their lives. By engaging local judges, educators and law enforcement, she is helping to reform discipline in our schools and keeping kids out of our courtrooms. She is committed to expanding specialized treatment courts that better serve the needs of North Carolina’s children and families. She is also working to leverage the power of technology to make sure our courts are efficient and accessible.
She has lectured extensively to promote the administration of justice, the importance of an independent judiciary, and fair judicial selection. She is active in her community through leadership in her church, First Baptist of Raleigh, her support of hunger relief efforts, and her mentoring of students from elementary school to law school. She is a graduate of Douglass College of Rutgers University, the University of Tennessee College of Law, and Duke University School of Law where she obtained her LL.M. She and her husband, Curtis Owens, are the proud parents of twin sons, Thomas and Matthew.
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of North Carolina
Phil was born in Danville, Virginia on March 26, 1972, to Philip and Pat Berger. Phil is a 1990 graduate of Morehead High School in Eden, North Carolina. He graduated from UNC-Wilmington in 1994 with a B.A. in History, and earned his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1999.
Phil began his legal career in private practice in 1999. From 2001 through 2006, he joined his father and brother, Kevin, forming The Berger Law Firm. In 2006, Phil was elected District Attorney in the 17A Prosecutorial District and was re-elected in 2010.
While serving as District Attorney, Phil was the chair of Project SAFE Rockingham County. A collaboration with the US Attorney's Office and local law enforcement, Project SAFE implemented the “focused-deterrence” model for reducing violent crime among recidivists and gang members. In 2013-14, he served as President of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys. Phil represented the National District Attorneys Association in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a Non-Governmental Observer to the United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, et al hearings.
From 2015-2016, Phil served as an Administrative Law Judge with the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings. He was elected to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2016. In 2020, Phil was elected to the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
Phil has a passion for helping young people. He serves as a volunteer assistant coach with the baseball team at Cedar Ridge High School. Phil previously coached football at the high school level, and he has also coached youth football with the Durham Firebirds and Greensboro Eagles. Phil was the founder and chair of Eden Youth Football, and he served as a board member and basketball coach with Bethany Community Middle School.
Phil is married to Jodie Church, a public school teacher. They have two children, Philip III and Will.
Associate Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Judge, North Carolina Court of Appeals
Lucy Inman, a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, is a candidate for the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2020. Judge Inman was elected statewide to the Court of Appeals in 2014.
Judge Inman was raised in Raleigh by parents who taught her the value of hard work and respect for people of all races, faiths, and walks of life. She graduated from Sanderson High School and earned a degree in English from N.C. State University.
Judge Inman’s first career was as a newspaper reporter. While covering court proceedings, she was inspired to participate in the justice system. She then moved to Chapel Hill and earned her law degree from UNC School of Law in 1990. Her first job after law school was working as a law clerk for North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jim Exum.
Judge Inman went on to practice civil litigation for 18 years, first in Los Angeles and then back home in Raleigh. Her clients included small business owners, large corporations, famous individuals, and lesser known -- but no less important -- survivors of negligence, fraud, and sexual abuse.
In 2010, Judge Inman was appointed by Governor Beverly Perdue to serve as a special superior court judge. She served in that role for four years, presiding in hearings and jury trials across North Carolina. Since her election to the Court of Appeals, Judge Inman has authored over 400 appellate decisions in a wide variety of cases, including criminal, civil, and constitutional disputes. She has presided in thousands of other cases.
Judge Inman brings hard work and respect for all others to her personal and professional life every day. She hopes to bring these values, and equal justice for all, to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Judge Inman and her husband Billy Warden live in Raleigh. They have two college-age children and a black lab rescue who keeps their nest from ever being empty.
Vice President of Marketing and Communications, John Locke Foundation
As Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Donna shares the foundation’s message of freedom, free markets, and limited government across media platforms. She co-hosts Carolina Journal Radio, a weekly syndicated radio show produced by JLF and heard on more than a dozen stations across North Carolina. Donna came to JLF in 2003 after freelance writing for Carolina Journal and contributing to projects for the North Carolina Education Alliance. Her career has been spent in marketing, public relations, and broadcasting, and includes time at UNC-TV and The Arizona Republic, the daily newspaper serving metropolitan Phoenix. Donna is a graduate of Arizona State University and is married to Rick Martinez. She and Rick co-host “You Don’t Say,” a daily radio talk show heard on NewsRadio 680 WPTF in the Triangle.
Chief Justice, North Carolina Supreme Court
Chief Justice Paul Newby was born in Asheboro and grew up in Jamestown, N.C. He received his B.A. degree in Public Policy Studies from Duke University and law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.
Chief Justice Newby was first elected to the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice in 2004. He was elevated to the highest judicial office in North Carolina in the 2020 election. As Chief Justice, he is head of the Judicial Branch, a co-equal branch of state government with the Legislative and Executive branches. He is entrusted with leading the Judicial Branch and its 7,600 elected officials and employees.
He is an adjunct professor of law at Campbell University and has published a book on the North Carolina Constitution.
Chief Justice Newby’s legal experience includes private practice and corporate inhouse legal counsel. He also served almost 20 years as an Assistant United States Attorney, during which 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.
Chief Justice Newby is an Eagle Scout and is the recipient of the Heroism Award (for rescuing nine people from a riptide), the God and Service Award, the Silver Beaver Award, and the Scouter of the Year Award. In 2012, he was designated a Distinguished Eagle Scout, a national honor that recognizes both his service to the Boy Scouts and his dedication to public service.
Chief Justice Newby has been married to Macon Tucker Newby since 1983, and they have four children. He is active in his local church, where he serves as a teacher and mentor to young professionals.
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of North Carolina
Tamara Patterson Barringer is the 101st Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
Justice Barringer teaches Law and Ethics to Master of Accounting and Undergraduate Business students at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she has served on the faculty for 15 years. Tamara also serves as the Director and Lead Faculty for the Master of Accounting Mentorship Program, a diversity, equity, and inclusion program, which she founded over a decade ago to introduce careers in accounting and business to first generation and under-represented minority undergraduate students.
Justice Barringer has also taught as an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at North Carolina State University and later designed and taught the first business law paralegal program curriculum at Meredith College.
Justice Barringer began her legal career in private practice in 1985 with Poyner and Spruill, being mentored closely by attorneys Nat Townsend, Curtis Twiddy, and Maria Lynch. She then founded the Barringer Sasser, LLP law firm in Cary in 1988 with her husband, Brent. As Managing Partner, she gained over 20 years’ experience representing entrepreneurs and small business clients in business and tax law, estate planning, and estate administration matters.
Justice Barringer served as a North Carolina Senator, representing District 17 in Southern Wake County from 2012 to 2018. She served as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee for General Government and Information Technology Appropriations.
Justice Barringer’s lifelong mission for healthy children and families in North Carolina began when she and her husband, Brent, served as therapeutic foster parents for the Methodist Home for Children for over 10 years. Through her work in the General Assembly as Chair of the Permanency Innovation Initiative, partnering with the Dave Thomas Foundation and Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Program, 300 older North Carolina children, who had very little chance of being adopted, now have permanent, loving, and stable homes.
Justice Barringer’s life journey began on her family’s farm in Patterson Springs, Cleveland County, North Carolina, growing up with three younger sisters outside Shelby. After graduating from Crest High School in 1977, she became the first member of her family to ever graduate from college when she earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Highest Honors in 1981 from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her Juris Doctor with Honors from the UNC School of Law in 1985, after serving on the North Carolina Law Review and being inducted into the Order of the Coif.
Justice Barringer is married to her college sweetheart, Brent, and have three adopted children, Jessica, John Charles, and Emily, and two rescue dogs, Lilah and Baloo.
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