In November, the Brennan Center for Justice state court report,and Northwest Law Review He hosted a symposium focused on state constitutions. Several state Supreme Court justices who participated in the program agreed to brief interviews. state court report” is published as a series.
North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Alison Riggs has been a judge on the North Carolina Supreme Court since 2023. She was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who had nominated her to the state Court of Appeals in 2022. Before becoming Judge Riggs, he was a prominent civil rights attorney specializing in voting rights. In the 2024 election, Riggs’ victory to retain his state high court seat drew national attention as his opponent refused to concede and legally sought to invalidate the vote, even though multiple recounts confirmed Riggs’ defeat. It took six months and was fought in both state and federal court before her race was confirmed.
In the interview, Riggs spoke about the shortcomings of partisan judicial competition, new challenges created by artificial intelligence (AI) and how he models the behavior he wants to see in the courtroom.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When you were in law school, what did you expect your legal career to be like?
I applied to law school with the intention of becoming an environmental lawyer. I have a degree in microbiology and a master’s degree in history of science, so it seemed like a natural progression for someone interested in science. But by the end of law school, I knew I wanted to focus on civil rights.
Only after I started practicing did I realize the importance of the temperament, character, and values of the judges I had previously appeared on. And more importantly, I understood what it meant for my clients and how they understood the justice system. I was like, “Oh, this is another level where I can use this degree to do some good someday!” But that wasn’t on the 2022 bingo card. Since I got married in 2021, I wanted to continue working at a job I love and enjoy my personal life. I’ve campaigned with people who wanted to be judges from a very early stage. I went through about 80 iterations of who I wanted to be until I finally got there.
What advice do you wish someone had given you when you were a law student?
I wish the clerk had pushed me more. I spent a lot of time in law school doing direct client work with clinics, helping people apply for clemency to restore their civil rights in Florida. I enjoyed that client work so much that it was all I could think about. The idea of sitting quietly and doing a lot of research and writing didn’t particularly appeal to me at that stage in my life. But this was an opportunity to take advantage of before I got too busy practicing and fell into a steep learning curve. That quiet time will never come back.
I was lucky that my early practice was fairly general. That’s also something you can get from working in an office. It’s a sense of seeing a wide range of what practice is like. It helps you make better decisions for yourself. As a generalist in an office setting, it is beneficial to spend quiet time early in your career focused on learning doctrine and thinking about how you make decisions.
What challenges are students facing today that are different from your experience?
I can’t imagine what it would be like to go to law school with an AI. It can feel scary to be educated in a time when so much information seems to be generated that way.
And those who are graduating now feel they are entering an uncertain job market. I graduated in 2009, right at the end of the recession. The legal job market has collapsed. I didn’t expect it to have a direct effect on me, but it had such a domino effect that no one left school at the time who didn’t feel that effect. Obviously, student loans were bad then, and they’re even worse now.
What do you enjoy about being a state court judge?
I’m at a point in my life where I like to sit quietly and read and think. It feels like a luxury, especially when you finish a campaign. I also really enjoy trying to model the behavior that I wanted to see in the people in the courtroom when I was litigating a case. We often have lawyers in front of us arguing for the first time. I was in their shoes not too long ago, in front of a judge who was unfriendly, unkind, and unnecessarily unfriendly, but it didn’t have to be that way. It also did not earn the client’s trust. So I smile at everyone who steps up to the podium, even if I look a little out of step with my colleagues.
When I first argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, I was a little nervous as I stood on the podium, but Justice (Elena) Kagan gave me a kind smile. It wasn’t inappropriate or over the top, but in that moment it was incredibly meaningful to me. Because it was nonverbal. “Okay, I’ve worked hard to get here. Give me your best argument. I want to hear what you have to say.” And that makes me a better advocate in this moment. That stuck with me. I had enough experience by then, but it was still a bit of a unique experience. And you start thinking, “Wait, why is this such a unique experience?” So by sitting in that rare space, I can help make that change. When it comes to the people who come before my court, no matter what their case is, no matter what I ultimately decide, I have the ability to communicate through my words and actions in the courtroom that I am interested in their opinion, that they have worked hard to get there, and that I know that their client has trusted them to make this case. This is part of what I would like to see more of in the practice of law, so being able to model that is rewarding and fun.
What is something people might not know about your state constitution?
In the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights is added at the end of the Constitution, whereas in the US Constitution (which is not uncommon) it is placed before the Constitution. For me, it’s important in every sense of the word, structurally and visually. Before we talk about the three powers, let’s talk about popular sovereignty. That power is in the hands of the people. That the guiding document begins with recognition of the rights of the people of the state is a way for me to remember why I’m here and why I’m doing this. It’s the lens through which everything that comes after it is filtered.
What is the most memorable opinion you have attended?
The first time I felt that my work mattered was when I was still a judge on the Court of Appeals. The North Carolina General Assembly has unanimously passed a bill that would allow victims of child sexual abuse to file charges after the statute of limitations has expired. It is no surprise that many victims are delayed in disclosing their information. It’s a very political issue. Some in the bar were very against it and some were very much in favor of it. As a member of the committee, I wrote a bipartisan decision recognizing the unique circumstances of childhood victims of these egregious practices and acts and upholding the Safe Children Act as a constitutional exercise of the Legislature’s authority. I was able to talk about statutes of limitations and procedural hurdles, and I was really proud of being able to do that. The North Carolina Supreme Court unanimously upheld this decision.
Later, while on the Supreme Court, he wrote a dissenting opinion in a case in which Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought to remove his name from ballots in the 2024 election. Of course, it was an election law case. I have long represented voters in voting rights cases, and my clients would never have succeeded in convincing a court to force the Board of Elections to pay millions of dollars to change ballots and election procedures on the eve of an election—which is essentially what Kennedy was doing. My dissent was strongly expressed because I felt I had a unique voice to explain the inconsistency of my court’s actions in ordering the reprinting of all these ballots at the expense of the County Board of Elections just before the election. I wanted people to understand how outlier that decision was. It matters if different people measure justice differently.
What are some of the challenges facing state courts?
Two things come to mind about North Carolina in particular. One is the method of selecting judges. Having just been in that situation, it’s hard to reconcile what we commonly think about judges: that they’re not typical politicians. But there’s always something about campaign finance issues and the partisan nature of these races that feels a little off to me. I don’t set the rules, and no one asks me for policy advice, but I’m happy to share my experience with policymakers.
I think it’s concerning to everyone, regardless of party affiliation, that partisan elections make it very difficult to inspire trust and independence in the judiciary. People only see it as politics as usual. Moreover, we certainly live in North Carolina at a time when norms and traditions are eroding and jurisprudence is changing rapidly over short periods of time. It’s really hard to navigate.
How do you respond when people say the courts are too politicized?
I remind people that these are decisions that the Legislature makes. North Carolina once had nonpartisan judicial elections. We used to publicly finance judicial elections. But I play the hand I’m dealt. That’s the best I can do. I will serve all North Carolinians, regardless of their registration or voting history.
Erin Geiger-Smith is a writer and editor at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Recommended Citation: Erin Geiger Smith, Conversation with North Carolina Judge Alison RiggsSᴛᴀᴛᴇ Cᴏᴜʀᴛ Rᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ (December 15, 2025), https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/conversation-north-carolina-justice-allison-riggs
