North Carolina justice ends suit against ethics panel after it dismisses complaint

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina Supreme Court justice has ended her lawsuit against an ethics commission because she says the judicial panel scrutinizing her comments about the courts, colleagues and race has dismissed a complaint against her. Associate Justice Anita Earls is one of two Democrats and the only Black jurist on the seven-member court. Her lawyer filed paperwork on Wednesday to end her lawsuit against the Judicial Standards Commission and its members. The commission’s work is largely done in secret, and Earls’ attorney says the notice that his client received about the ethics complaint dismissal is confidential. Earls had tried to block the commission’s investigation, saying it was harming her free-speech rights.