4th Branch Speech

Dear Friends and Voters,

I was invited to speak to a group in Raleigh known as the 4th Branch. For those of you who are not familiar with the group, it is comprised of retired military and other professional people that are concerned with legislative, executive and judicial affairs in this state and its affect on us, the citizens. Issues range from Medicare premium increases to the recent decision in Coley that I discussed involving taxpayer's constitutional right to not be retroactively taxed. Here is my statement to the group:

As some of you may know, I had surgery to remove a non-cancerous brain tumor last year. Between the tumor and the surgery, it has destroyed my hearing on the right side and I am deaf in my right hear. The surgery also left my face partially paralyzed and my right eye would not close. As a result, I underwent a second surgery last year to have a gold weight implanted in my right eye. The tumor unfortunately recurred and I recently underwent radiation. Hopefully, the tumor will stop growing. The surgeries and radiation have not affected me cognitively, but I am not as pretty as I once was.

I grew up with the law and began early attending my father's trials, talking with his clients and working in his law office. I flirted with the idea of becoming a medical doctor and had pre-medical studies and majored in chemistry. I decided, however, that the law was my true calling and I went to law school. I graduated from law school in the top third of my class and have been practicing for almost 18 years. I spent 12 years working for the trial and appellate courts.

The judges whom I worked for recognized my writing talent and permitted me to write their opinions. Although the judges' names are on the opinions, the words and ideas are mine. While I worked for the courts, I wrote over 500 opinions. For the past 6 years, I have been engaged in private practice doing federal and state appeals in all areas of the law.

It is a rarity, but I have a very broad base of knowledge in many areas. I know how judges think and act. I have reviewed numerous trial transcripts. I have the skills, knowledge and qualification to do the work and I want to put my talents to work for the citizens of this state.

Chief Justice Parker [who had spoken before me] mentioned some of the challenges facing our judicial system. Chief Justice parker mentioned the increase in population. Growth may be wonderful thing, but with increased growth comes increased demands on our judicial system. For the past 8 years, we have had a predominantly Republican-controlled court and a Democratic-controlled legislature that has caused a lack of adequate funding. We need to remove political partisanship from our courts.

Although the legislature has restored some of the funding, it's a lot like patching a pothole with bad asphalt. It will solve the problem for awhile, but the pothole will recur.

We need to modernize our courts and make them more efficient. We need to eliminate archaic laws. And most of all we need to restore justice to our courts. Recently, I discussed a few cases that demonstrate that our courts have been hostile to our constitutional rights. There was a case where a convicted defendant waited 6 years for a trial transcript. There was another case where a defendant waited 4 years just to enter a guilty plea. That is not justice - justice delayed is justice denied. There are other examples as well, like the recent decision in Coley, where the Supreme Court found that retroactive taxation is permissible even though our state constitution says otherwise.

I have articulated in greater detail why I am seeking office at my website at www.rachelforjustice.com. Thank you.

For Liberty and Justice

Rachel Lea Hunter