a motion to recuse

HISE, JR., WARREN ) DANIEL, PAUL NEWTON, in their official ) capacities as Co-Chairmen of the Senate Committee ) on Redistricting and Elections; DESTIN HALL, in ) his official capacity as Chairman of the House ) Standing Committee on Redistricting; THE STATE ) OF NORTH CAROLINA; THE NORTH CAROLINA ) STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS; DAMON ) CIRCOSTA, in his official capacity as Chair of the ) State Board. [...] ************************************* - 1 - TO THE HONORABLE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA: Petitioners, North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, Common Cause, Marilyn Harris, Gary Grant, Joyah Bulluck, and Thomasina Williams, respectfully submit this Motion for Disqualification of Justice Philip Berger, Jr., pursuant to Canon 3C(1)(d)(i) of the North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct. [...] Petitioners promptly filed a Notice of Appeal on 6 December 2021, and, concomitantly with this Motion, Petitioners have also filed a Motion pursuant to Rule 2 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure to Expedite Consideration of Decision in the Public Interest and a Petition for Discretionary Review of the Superior Court’s Order. [...] This Canon provides, in relevant part: On motion of any party, 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 … [t]he 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 … [i]s a party to the proceedin. [...] Disqualification in this matter is warranted based on the plain meaning of Canon 3C(1)(d)(i) as well as due to the exceptional circumstances of this matter.