State v. Petersilie

EXUM, Chief Justice.

The substantive issue before us is whether N.C.G.S. § 163-274(7), prohibiting anonymous, derogatory charges against candidates for primary or general elections, violates the free speech guarantees of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution or Article I, § 14 of the North Carolina Constitution, or both. Before reaching this constitutional issue, however, we must first dispose of a procedural question: whether the Court of Appeals erred by vacating the judgment of the trial court on the ground of lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We conclude the Court of…