Patricia Timmons-Goodson

Patricia Timmons-Goodson
Current Court Information:
North Carolina Supreme Court
Title:	Former justice
Service:
Appointed by:	Mike Easley
Active:	2006-12/17/2012
Succeeded by:	Cheri Beasley
Past post:	North Carolina Court of Appeals
Past term:	1997-2006
Past position:	Judge
Personal History
Born:	September 18, 1954
Party:	Democratic
Bachelors:	UNC-Chapel Hill, 1972
Law School:	UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law, 1979

Patricia Timmons-Goodson was an associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court. She was appointed to the court by Governor Mike Easley on February 1, 2006 and retired on December 17, 2012.

Education

Timmons-Goodson received from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Speech in 1972 and her J.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Law in 1979.

Career

After graduating from law school, Timmons-Goodson was a District Manager for the United States Census. In 1981, she became Assistant District Attorney for the Twelfth Prosecutorial District where she served until becoming Staff Attorney for Lumbee River Legal Services. In 1984, she was elected to the 12th District Court. Timmons-Goodson was on this court until appointed by Governor James Hunt to the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 1997. She was appointed on February 1, 2006 to the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Awards and Associations

Awards

• 2010 Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Order of the Long Leaf Pine
• Gwyneth B. Davis Award, North Carolina Assocation of Educators
• Doctor of Humane Letters, Johnson C. Smith University

Associations

• Co-Editor, The Judges' Journal, American Bar Association
• Former Vice-President, North Carolina Bar Association
• Co-Host and Co-Producer, "Dimensions of Justice" TV program

News

Governor Perdue to appoint Timmons-Goodson's replacement

Some controversy has arisen over outgoing Gov. Bev Perdue's decision to appoint a Supreme Court justice before the end of her term. Due to Justice Timmons-Goodson's upcoming retirement, the Governor is allowed to appoint a replacement who will serve until the next general election in 2014. An executive order placed by Gov. Perdue in 2011 requires her to choose court appointments from a list of candidates provided by the North Carolina Judicial Nominating Commission. However, the commission told the Governor that they did not have enough time to vet candidates before she left office. So, the Governor is planning to select and appoint the new justice herself.

Because Gov. Perdue is a Democrat and the Governor-elect, Pat McCrory, is a Republican, some are concerned that bypassing the nominating commission is a political move. Perdue is likely to appoint a Democratic successor for Justice Timmons-Goodson, herself a Democrat. Others say that it is the Governor's constitutional right to appoint justices to Supreme Court vacancies.

UPDATE: On December 12, 2012, Gov. Perdue appointed Judge Cheri Beasley to the Supreme Court vacancy.

External links

• Timmons-Goodson bio
• Project Vote Smart, Associate Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson (NC)
• Death Penalty Information Center, "North Carolina Supreme Court Debates Doctors' Roles in Executions"
• America.gov, "Women Setting New Records as State Supreme Court Judges", December 20, 2007
• Randolph County Democratic Party

References