RALEIGH – The North Carolina Judicial Branch celebrates Women’s Equality Day on August 26 which was the date selected to commemorate the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. This year’s celebration is of particular importance because it is the centennial of the 19th Amendment’s ratification in 1920. 

“It is vitally important to remember the struggles and accomplishments of women in North Carolina and the United States as a whole,” said Chief Justice Cheri Beasley. “We stand on the shoulders of the women who came before us and blazed the trail. Their struggles created opportunities for future generations of women to lead and to serve.”

North Carolina has a long history of trailblazing women who have served as judges and justices in our state courts. In 1968, Judge Elreta Alexander became the first black woman in the country elected to the district court bench. She later ran for Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, but lost her primary election to a fire extinguisher salesman with no college education or law license.

Chief Justice Susie Sharp ultimately won the election that year, becoming the first woman to lead the state’s Supreme Court, and only the second woman in the country to lead a state’s highest appellate court.

Near the end of her tenure, Chief Justice Susie Sharp appointed Judge Naomi Morris to serve as Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, making her the first woman to lead that court since its creation in 1967.

One hundred years after ratification of the 19th Amendment, women play key leadership roles in the North Carolina Judicial Branch. Both of North Carolina’s statewide appellate courts are led by women, Supreme Court of North Carolina Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, and North Carolina Court of Appeals Chief Judge Linda McGee. A total of 164 women serve as North Carolina district court judges, superior court judges, and judges and justices on North Carolina’s appellate courts. In addition, 11 women currently serve as elected district attorneys, and another 58 serve as elected clerks of superior court. In all, women make up 43% of all elected positions in North Carolina’s Judicial Branch.

“One hundred years is not that long when it comes to essential rights like voting,” said Chief Judge Linda McGee of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the second highest court in the state. “Perhaps your mother or your grandmother experienced the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave her a voice in her government, and broke the glass ceiling that empowers today’s women with self-determination and gives them equal opportunities.”

In honor of the women currently serving on the judicial bench in North Carolina, below is a list recognizing the women judges and justices in our state organized by court and district.  

Learn more about the women who have served on the Supreme Court of North Carolina and the North Carolina Court of Appeals by visiting the North Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society online.