Early Voting Begins Tomorrow

Beginning tomorrow, you can cast your ballot. There are early voting sites throughout Wake County. Some are even open over the weekend. If you want to help a campaign, mine or another of your choice, one simple way is to hang around after you cast your early ballot -- give others who are entering the polls some information or literature about your favorite candidates. Just make sure to maintain the proper distance from the voting booth: the distance will be marked at each site. If you are interested in helping, just contact the campaign for literature or talking points. For more information about the polling sites and the hours, please follow this link to our Wake County Board of Elections. Let your voice be heard. Vote and be counted.

Register to Vote

As election day rushes toward us, I just want to give a couple of reminders:

Tomorrow, October 10, 2008 is the last day to register to vote in North Carolina. Registration forms that are received by the county board of elections OR are postmarked by the deadline are accepted. After registering, voters will be notified by the county board of elections of their precinct and polling places. IF you have not completed your registration in this conventional manner, you can still vote if you use the One-Stop Absentee voting process, just (1) go to a One-Stop Voting site in your home county, (2) fill out a voter registration application, and (3) provide proof of residency by showing the elections official an appropriate form of identification with your name and address. THIS WILL ONLY WORK FOR EARLY VOTING, NOT ON ELECTION DAY. Early voting starts on October 16th and ends on November 1st. We have 15 early voting sites in Wake County, making it very convenient and easy to vote early. For a list of the sites, you can go to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website.

As you vote, please remember that pulling a straight-party ticket will not place a vote for president or for the non-partisan races like the judicial races. Voting is a three-step process: President, partisan races, judicial races. Make your full vote count.

Join us on the Spanish Riviera

I want to invite you to a fundraiser to be held on Thursday, September 18, 2008; from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at The Riveria Mediterranean Resto & Lounge, 135 South Wilmington Street, Raleigh. I deeply appreciate the many sponsors who have made the event possible. Donations of $50 are suggested at the door. I hope you can attend the event, enjoy a Tango exhibition dance by fellow family law specialist Carolyn J. Woodruff, move to music provided by DJ Chico Scott, and have a bite to eat. Dust off your dancing shoes!

In Memorium

In commemorating fallen members of our armed forces on Monday, my thoughts turned to the veterans in my family, those who live and those who have perished. In particular, I turned to the writings of my great-uncle. Uncle Jim, a medic with the 977th F.A. Army Brigade during WWII, earned conscientious objector status before volunteering to serve. He enlisted in the medical corps and carried the tools of healing to the front lines of war, rather than (and to the exclusion of) a gun, providing relief where he could and serving witness. In 2006, his account of the liberation of Dachau and 12 of his poems were made part of the permanent collection at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Today, on the original, May 30th, date of Memorial Day, I wanted to post one of his works.

In Memory of Memory (Charles Edwards: Overlooking the Valencia-Madrid Road, 2/17/37) To be first, we say, is “what it’s all about”;

that assumes that, when one’s reached a peak,

he can savor where he is by looking down

or back or smug at those whom he’s outdone;

but what of one whose peak’s an instant grave,

whose firstness is his everlastingness?

what savor lingers? on what gourmet tongue?

it is a brackish water (taste of dead dreams)

unless the living lavish on the lost

the utmost honor: keeping him in mind.

James Worley

Endorsements from the Wake County Voter Coalition and NCAWA

I enjoyed a wonderful sunny day yesterday greeting voters at Chavis Community Center. A diverse, steady and energetic stream of voters poured through the polling place all afternoon. One youth group came straight from its Sunday service so that many of the members could place their first-ever votes. Parents were accompanied by their children -- including a 96 year old mother whose daughter pulled in for curbside voting. Some voters had been voting in Wake County for years, others arrived with voter registration forms in hand. I was accompanied by members of the Wake County Voter Education Coalition, whose endorsement I was proud to receive last week, and was joined by the representatives of other campaigns. Then, topping off an already good day, I got home to the news that I have received the endorsement of the NC Association of Women Attorneys. The NCAWA has a judicial endorsements committee that investigates and evaluates candidates on several criteria. The committee considers not only the legal skill and ability of those in a race, but also such things as judicial temperament, and involvement in the community and the profession. I am humbled and heartened by the faith that so many have placed in me, and will continue to work hard to serve our Wake County communities.

Responsibility

Our founding fathers promised justice for all, and I have done what I can to maintain that promise. I have chosen to participate in groups and organizations that work to protect those with the least access to resources, the least access to education, and the least access to justice. I earned a grant to represent asylees fleeing oppression and seeking refuge on our shores. I tutored in an elementary school, meeting with youngsters whose lack of English proficiency disadvantaged them in their classrooms. I volunteered and taught with the Red Cross for over a decade, passing on what I had learned about how to protect the injured and ailing. I have represented victims of domestic violence free of charge. As a member of the Board of Governors of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, I am proud of the banner that reads, "Protecting People’s Rights,” and that provides continuing inspiration to members. I believe that our courts are not only responsible to the people, but responsible for providing a fair and balanced playing field to the people who are at highest risk.

Early Voting Begins Tomorrow

Early voting begins tomorrow, April 17th at nine sites throughout Wake County, including the Board of Elections. Placing your vote at your convenience between the 17th and May 3rd, will allow you to avoid the mayhem of election day -- or to spend your time on the 6th working for the candidate of your choice. And, in the event that you are not yet registered to vote in North Carolina, have changed your address and need to change your voter registration, or for any other reason need to re-register, you may do so on the same day as you vote at any of the nine early voting sites. You cannot register and vote the same day on May 6th. However you choose to exercise your right to vote, I hope that you will exercise this most fundamental of our Constitutional rights.

An Evening at Our North Carolina Museum of Art

The North Carolina Museum of Art is now hosting Art in the Evenings on Friday nights. Last night as I was looking at the installation in the entryway, I was struck by how differently the same sculpture can appear when you learn more about it. Butterflies are hung in a cluster forming a jet plane, and flowers form the jet's contrail. The structure has been in the foyer since the museum celebrated the Wright brothers' successful flight, and I visit the museum several times a year. I had always seen the butterflies moving slightly, clicking quietly against one another. But, upon learning that the butterflies were framed in memory wire, that they open and close because of the effect of heat on the wire, and that the heat is generated by small electrodes in the ceiling where the wires by which the butterflies hang are attached, I began to understand the sculpture in a new way. No longer was the movement random. The flapping was no longer just the effect of the soft flow of air in a large room. It became intentional. As always, new facts informed my views. And as always, I remain open to changing my views again if the information provided warrants. I truly believe that all matters, from art to zoning should be approached with an open mind and the willingness to learn.

Last Day to Register to Vote One Month from Today

One month from today may be the last day to register to vote, but if you have not updated your registration by April 11th, there is still hope. Until April 11th, you can register for the first time, change your party affiliation, or simply update your address. The voter registration form must be either post-marked by the 11th, or it may be hand delivered. However, if you miss the registration deadline, you may register during One-Stop Voting (which begins on April 17th) by going to a One-Stop site in your home county, filling out the registration form, and providing proof of residency to the elections official by presenting appropriate identification listing your current name and address. You will only be allowed to vote at the One-Stop site if you register in this manner. You will not be allowed to vote at your polling place on Primary Day, but your vote will be counted if you vote at the One-Stop site. One-Stop voting ends May 3rd. Register and VOTE in the MAY 6th primary.

Donna Shalala Spoke to a Packed Auditorium

At NC State's Stewart Theater, Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala discussed legislation that would assist returning servicemen and women. Not only were our responsibilities to the wounded emphasized, but also our ability to provide for the on-going education of our service members. Dr. Shalala addressed an audience of students, guests including First Lady Mary Easley, reporters, and members of the armed forces. Questions were accepted from the audience and ranged from inquiries into how soldiers could learn of the benefits already available, to how what we learn through caring for our wounded might affect the development of universal health care. Following the formal address, I was pleased to be able to talk with service members about the conundrums presented by the deployment of parents who leave children behind with friends and family members. While the children remain enrolled in local schools, our family courts must find ways for their temporary guardians and custodians to act in their best interests, without interfering with the family structure upon the return of the soldier-parents.

Adoptive Parents Meet at Kiwanis Park

Yesterday morning I was privileged to attend a baby shower honoring the adoptive parents and hopeful parents of A Child's Hope adoption agency. As an adopted child myself, I was moved to see the joy and hope that the adoptions brought to the families. Not only have I been told by my parents about my own adoption, but I remember the anticipation that I felt when we were going through the process to adopt my little brother. The process was long, and not easy, but my brother and I are both so glad that our parents found us and made us such a happy family. I truly look forward to being part of the adoption process from the bench, having the authority to sign an adoption decree and help to create a new family.