James E. Coleman: Justice Berger must recuse himself from case that involves his father, the Senate leader

Legal scholar James E. Coleman, Jr. writes about a conflict of interest regarding Justice Berger in the News & Observer. 

Is it a conflict of interest for a son to serve as a judge on a legal case directly involving his father? The question is presented in NAACP v. Moore, which awaits a hearing before the N.C. Supreme Court. The plaintiffs formally requested Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr., son of the powerful state Senate leader, President Pro Tem Phil Berger, Sr., to recuse himself because his father is a defendant in the case. While common sense would tell us that it is improper for a son to decide his father’s case, North Carolina’s Code of Judicial Conduct fortifies that prohibition: “A judge should disqualify himself/herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality may reasonably be questioned”, “including but not limited to instances where...the judge or the judge’s spouse, or a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person is a party to the proceeding.”

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