Allison Riggs
Allison Riggs | |
|---|---|
| Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court | |
| Assumed office September 11, 2023 | |
| Appointed by | Roy Cooper |
| Preceded by | Michael R. Morgan |
| Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals | |
| In office January 1, 2023 – September 11, 2023 | |
| Appointed by | Roy Cooper |
| Preceded by | Richard Dietz |
| Succeeded by | Carolyn Thompson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1980 or 1981 (age 43–44) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | University of Florida (BA, MA, JD) |
Allison Jean Riggs (born 1980 or 1981)[1] is an American state court judge. She was appointed by Governor Roy Cooper to the North Carolina Court of Appeals,[2] and later to the North Carolina Supreme Court.[3]
Riggs has served as co-leader of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in Durham, North Carolina, and has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in a Texas redistricting case in 2018 and a North Carolina redistricting case in 2019.[4] [5]
Education
[edit]Riggs earned her Bachelor of Arts in Microbiology in 2003, Master's degree in History in 2006 and her Juris Doctor in 2009 all at the University of Florida.[2][6][7]
Career
[edit]In 2009, Riggs joined the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. She served as a staff attorney from 2009 to 2014, a senior attorney from 2014 to 2019, chief counsel for Voting Rights from 2019 to 2022 and co-executive director for programs from 2020 to 2022.[8]
Notable cases
[edit]- Riggs was part of the legal team that filed a lawsuit challenging North Carolina's voter law signed by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory in August 2013. The case was League of Women Voters of North Carolina, et al. v. North Carolina.[9] [10] [11]
- In 2018, Riggs argued for the plaintiffs in Abbott v. Perez. The case involved a challenge to Texas's 2013 redistricting plan as unlawfully based on race, violating the Fourteenth Amendment's prohibition on racial gerrymandering and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Split 5-4 along ideological lines, the Court upheld Texas's redistricting as lawful because the state was entitled to legislative good faith, and the plaintiffs could not meet their burden of proof. [12]
- In 2021, Riggs was part of the legal team in Judicial Watch v. North Carolina. The suit was to compel the State of North Carolina, the North Carolina State Board of Elections, the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, and the Guilford County Board of Elections to comply with their voter rolls maintenance and record production obligations under Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.[13] [14]
Judicial career
[edit]North Carolina Court of Appeals
[edit]Governor Roy Cooper appointed Riggs to be a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, starting on approximately January 1, 2023. She filled the vacancy on the Court of Appeals created by the election of Richard Dietz to the North Carolina Supreme Court.[2]
North Carolina Supreme Court
[edit]Governor Cooper appointed Riggs to be a judge on the North Carolina Supreme Court in September 2023, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Michael R. Morgan.[3]
Electoral history
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Allison Riggs (incumbent) | 450,268 | 69.10% | |
| Democratic | Lora Christine Cubbage | 201,336 | 30.90% | |
| Total votes | 651,604 | 100% | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "North Carolina governor appoints Democrat to fill Supreme Court vacancy". AP News. September 11, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Governor Cooper Announces Judicial Appointment | NC Gov. Cooper". governor.nc.gov.
- ^ a b "Governor Cooper Announces Two Judicial Appointments | NC Gov. Cooper". governor.nc.gov.
- ^ "Voting rights lawyer to fill North Carolina appeals court seat". WUNC. December 16, 2022.
- ^ "Unrig the Courts".
- ^ "Peoples Parity Project Judicial Recommendations". Peoples Parity Project.
- ^ https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-riggs-88536ba7
- ^ "Judge Allison Riggs Formally Invested as Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals | North Carolina Judicial Branch". www.nccourts.gov.
- ^ "The Supreme Court May Be About to Draw an Out-of-Bounds Line to Save Democracy". Esquire. March 29, 2019.
- ^ "League of Women Voters of North Carolina, et al. v. North Carolina".
- ^ "Allison Riggs Appointed to North Carolina Court of Appeals, Steps Down from Service as LWVUS Board Member | League of Women Voters". www.lwv.org. December 15, 2022.
- ^ "Abbott v. Perez; SCOTUSblog".
- ^ "Judicial Watch, Inc. v. State of North Carolina et al". www.law360.com.
- ^ "Judicial Watch, Inc. v. North Carolina, Civil Action 3:20-CV-211-RJC-DCK | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
- ^ "03/05/2024 OFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE". North Carolina State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
External links
[edit]Statewide political officials of North Carolina | ||
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| U.S. senators |  | |
| State government |
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| Supreme Court (elected) | ||
- 1980s births
- Living people
- 21st-century American women judges
- 21st-century American judges
- 21st-century American women lawyers
- 21st-century American lawyers
- Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni
- Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court
- North Carolina Court of Appeals judges
- North Carolina Democrats
- University of Florida alumni