Phil Berger Jr.

Philip Berger Jr. (born March 26, 1972) is Republican judge, and son of the President pro tempore of the North Carolina Senate Philip Berger Sr., currently serving as an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Phil Berger Jr.
Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
Assumed office
January 1, 2021
Preceded byPaul Martin Newby
Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals
In office
January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2020
Preceded byLinda Stephens
Succeeded byDarren Jackson
Personal details
Born (1972-03-26) March 26, 1972
Political partyRepublican
RelativesPhilip E. Berger (father)
EducationUniversity of North Carolina, Wilmington (BA)
Wake Forest University (JD)

Berger was elected to a seat on the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2016, defeating incumbent Judge Linda Stephens.[1] In the 2020 judicial elections, while still serving on that court, he was elected as a Republican to an eight-year term to begin January 1, 2021, as a justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, taking the seat formerly held by Justice Paul Martin Newby and defeating a fellow Court of Appeals Judge Lucy Inman.[2]

Berger's father is longtime North Carolina Senate President pro tempore Phil Berger. Berger formerly served as district attorney in Rockingham County, North Carolina and as an administrative law judge. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 2014.

Ethical controversies

Berger's political connections have brought scrutiny to his family relationships and ethics. For example, his campaign for the State Supreme Court was alleged to have violated state election laws preventing the intermixing of candidate and PAC funds.[3] That case was dropped with Berger Jr. demanding an apology for misinformation.[4]

Berger Jr. faced calls to recuse himself from a case involving a North Carolina voter ID law in which his father was a named-defendant.[5] Berger Jr. ultimately did not recuse himself in that case,[6] writing a dissent from the majority's holding against his father.[6][7]

References
  1. Independent Weekly
  2. Matt Mercer, Berger wins seat on N.C. Supreme Court, nsjonline.com, November 5, 2020.
  3. WRAL (May 16, 2022). "NC Supreme Court Justice flouted campaign spending laws, complaint says". WRAL.com. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  4. Record, Joe Killian/Greensboro News &. "Berger seeks apology over false claim of ethics violation". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  5. Corriher, Billy (November 3, 2021). "Berger-Barringer controversy makes clear that NC should make its judicial ethics rules stronger, not weaker". NC Newsline. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  6. N.C. State Conf. of NAACP v. Moore, No. 261A18-3, (Statement of Justice Berger denying motion for recusal).
  7. "N.C. high court backs down on conflicts of interest after GOP threats | Facing South". www.facingsouth.org. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
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