Did he or didn't he?
Today's editorial about judges and politics only touched on a small controversy involving N.C. Supreme Court Justices Paul Newby and Ed Brady.
The question is whether they were involved with a rally outside the Legislative Building last month held by proponents of a state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.
They were reported to be there, and castigated for it by News & Observer columnist Ruth Sheehan.
Was the criticism fair?
They didn't have an active role in the rally, and attending would not violate the Code of Judicial Conduct.
Their attendance could appear to be improper, however, if it was seen to imply endorsement of the proposed legislation. After all, same-sex marriage is an issue that's likely to come before the N.C. Supreme Court sooner or later.
But what if they weren't really at the rally at all, but were just passing by? The day in question was also NASCAR Day at the General Assembly, the day Gov. Easley wrecked another race car. A lot of people were out and about. What if the justices were just strolling by and maybe stopped for a moment to see what was going on?
I asked Newby about it yesterday. (I didn't get a return call from Brady.)
Newby told me I was the first person from the media to ask him about it. That's amazing considering the episode has been written about in the N&O at least twice.
So, he was happy to clear it all up for me, right?
Well, no. After explaining "off the record," he declined to give me an answer for the record.
My take is that the justice, who's already declared his candidacy for re-election in 2012, is in a bit of a corner. He doesn't want to upset anyone on either side of the contentious same-sex marriage debate by confirming whether he was or wasn't at the rally.
That reinforces the point of the editorial: Our election system turns judges into politicians.