State Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby has made the decision to remove Donna Stroud as chief of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, replacing her with Chris Dillon. This move comes as a surprise, as the typical practice is for the chief judge of the Court of Appeals to be the one who has served on the court the longest. Stroud was first elected to the Court of Appeals in 2006, six years prior to Dillon’s appointment.
All three individuals involved, Newby, Stroud, and Dillon, are Republicans. However, Stroud has faced criticism from Newby’s colleague, Supreme Court Justice Phil Berger, Jr. Berger had supported Stroud’s primary challenger in 2022, citing his frustration with her for not backing one of his former law clerks’ bid to become a clerk on the Court of Appeals. Despite Republicans holding a 10-5 majority on the court at the time, a former Democrat was ultimately awarded the clerk position after Stroud and another Republican sided with the Democrats and voted for him.
This recent development has raised concerns among legal professionals. Chris Brook, a former judge on the Court of Appeals, expressed his unease on social media, stating that previous chief judges had typically left their positions due to retirement or passing away. In this case, Judge Stroud continues to serve on the Court of Appeals, making the replacement of Chief Judge Stroud with Chief Judge Dillon an unprecedented step by Chief Justice Newby.
The Administrative Office of the Courts has not responded to requests for comment, and their website does not currently feature a press release announcing the change. However, the site’s biographies page now lists Chris Dillon as the chief of the Court of Appeals, replacing Donna Stroud.