Allison Riggs

Riggs was born in New York, and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia.{{cite web |last=Riggs |first=Allison |date=February 28, 2014 |url=https://repository.duke.edu/dc/videoforsocialchange/89660dc7-4d9d-4e0d-aec8-996ad9eab9ae |title=Allison Riggs Oral History Transcript |work=David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library |publisher=Duke University |access-date=May 7, 2025 }} Her father is a US Navy veteran, who worked at West Virginia University. She is the eldest of four children, one brother, who also served in the military, and three sisters. She attended private school until middle school, and then went to the local public high school, where she was a National Merit Scholar.

Riggs earned her Bachelor of Arts in Microbiology from the University of Florida in 2003. As an undergraduate, she researched the effect of recreational drugs, such as MDMA, on brain structures.{{cite web |last=Hewlett |first=Michael |orig-date=September 19, 2024 |date=September 20, 2024 |url=https://www.cityviewnc.com/stories/dominoes-on-the-court/ |title=Dominoes on the Court |work=City View NC |access-date=May 7, 2025 }}

For graduate school, she continued at the University of Florida and received a Master's degree in History in 2006, and a Juris Doctor in 2009.{{Cite press release |first=Mary Scott |last=Winstead |url=https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2022/12/15/governor-cooper-announces-judicial-appointment |title=Governor Cooper Announces Judicial Appointment |work=governor.nc.gov |date=15 December 2022 |access-date=13 May 2025 }}{{cite web|url=https://peoplesparity.org/unrigthecourts/#list |title=Peoples Parity Project Judicial Recommendations |publisher=Peoples Parity Project}}{{cite web |date=February 26, 2024 |url=https://lincolndems.org/lcdp-womens-and-men-meeting-with-judge-allison-riggs/ |title=LCDP Women’s and Men Meeting with Judge Allison Riggs |work=Lincoln County, NC Democratic Party |access-date=May 7, 2025 }} In law school, she became involved in voting rights efforts.{{cite web |last=Stuart |first=Tessa |date=May 2, 2025 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/nc-supreme-court-gop-trump-allison-riggs-jefferson-griffin-1235330294/ |title=North Carolina Justice Speaks Out About Republicans’ Effort to Steal Her Seat |work=Rolling Stone |access-date=May 7, 2025 }}

She served as president of the American Constitution Society and invested in the Restoration of Civil Rights Clinic. During her law school summers, she worked at the UNC School of Government and in the North Carolina Attorney General’s office.

In 2009, Riggs joined the Voting Rights Program at Southern Coalition for Social Justice in Durham, North Carolina.{{cite web |url=https://southerncoalition.org/gov-roy-cooper-appoints-allison-riggs-to-court-of-appeals/ |title=Gov. Roy Cooper Appoints Allison Riggs to Court of Appeals |work=Southern Coalition for Social Justice |access-date=May 7, 2025 }} As part of her various roles, she was responsible for writing the grant that created the organization. During her tenure,{{cite web |url=https://southerncoalition.org |website=southerncoalition.org |title=Southern Coalition for Social Justice |access-date=May 7, 2025 }} she served as a staff attorney, senior attorney, chief counsel for Voting Rights,{{cite web |last=Kirkland |first=Allegra |date=January 15, 2020 |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/allison-riggs-voting-rights-lawyer |title=Allison Riggs: A Day in the Life of a Voting Rights Attorney |work=Teen Vogue |access-date=May 7, 2025 }}

interim executive director, and co-executive director.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nccourts.gov/news/tag/press-release/judge-allison-riggs-formally-invested-as-judge-of-the-north-carolina-court-of-appeals|title=Judge Allison Riggs Formally Invested as Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals | North Carolina Judicial Branch|website=nccourts.gov}}

• Riggs was part of the legal team that filed a lawsuit challenging North Carolina's voter law signed by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory in August 2013. The case was League of Women Voters of North Carolina, et al. v. North Carolina.{{Cite web|url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a26975450/gerrymandering-supreme-court-north-carolina/ |first=Jack |last=Holmes |title=The Supreme Court May Be About to Draw an Out-of-Bounds Line to Save Democracy|date=March 29, 2019|website=Esquire}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/cases/league-women-voters-north-carolina-et-al-v-north-carolina |work=ACLU |access-date=13 May 2025 |title=League of Women Voters of North Carolina, et al. v. North Carolina}}{{Cite press release |url=https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/allison-riggs-appointed-north-carolina-court-appeals-steps-down-service|title=Allison Riggs Appointed to North Carolina Court of Appeals, Steps Down from Service as LWVUS Board Member |website=League of Women Voters |date=December 15, 2022 }}

• In 2018, Riggs argued for the plaintiffs in Abbott v. Perez. The case involved a challenge to Texas's 2013 redistricting plan as unlawfully based on race, violating the Fourteenth Amendment's prohibition on racial gerrymandering and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Split 5-4 along ideological lines, the Court upheld Texas's redistricting as lawful because the state was entitled to legislative good faith, and the plaintiffs could not meet their burden of proof. {{Cite web|url=https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/abbott-v-perez-2/|title=Abbott v. Perez|website=scotusblog.com}}

• In 2021, Riggs was part of the legal team in Judicial Watch v. North Carolina. The suit was to compel the State of North Carolina, the North Carolina State Board of Elections, the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, and the Guilford County Board of Elections to comply with their voter rolls maintenance and record production obligations under Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.{{Cite web|url=https://www.law360.com/cases/5e8f31399c619b036209bd8a|title=Judicial Watch, Inc. v. State of North Carolina et al|website=www.law360.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/judicial-watch-inc-v-north-carolina-1|title=Judicial Watch, Inc. v. North Carolina, Civil Action 3:20-CV-211-RJC-DCK | Casetext Search + Citator|website=casetext.com}}

Governor Roy Cooper appointed Riggs to be a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals starting on January 1, 2023. She filled the vacancy on the Court of Appeals created by the election of Richard Dietz to the North Carolina Supreme Court.

{{See also|2024 North Carolina Supreme Court election#Aftermath}}

Governor Cooper appointed Riggs to be a judge on the North Carolina Supreme Court in September 2023, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Michael R. Morgan.{{Cite web|url=https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2023/09/11/governor-cooper-announces-two-judicial-appointments|title=Governor Cooper Announces Two Judicial Appointments | NC Gov. Cooper|website=governor.nc.gov}} She won the election for the same position in November 2024. Jefferson Griffin, her Republican opponent, lost by 734 votes. Despite two independent recounts and judicial review by the Wake County Superior Court and the State Board of Elections who found his claims baseless, he refused to concede.{{cite web|url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a64408979/north-carolina-supreme-court-ballots/|title=Republicans in North Carolina Just Won't Admit That a Democrat Won|publisher=Esquire|last=Pierce|first=Charles P.|date=April 7, 2025|access-date=April 8, 2025}} On May 5, 2025, Chief District Judge Richard E. Myers II ordered the North Carolina Board of Elections to certify the results of the state’s Supreme Court election and that the ballots challenged by Griffin should be counted, deeming the "retroactive invalidation of absentee ballots cast by overseas military and civilian voters violates those voters’ substantive due process rights.”{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/5284433-federal-judge-rules-north-carolina-must-certify-state-supreme-court-victory/|work=TheHill.com|title=Federal judge rules North Carolina must certify state Supreme Court victory|first=Sarah|last=Polus|date=May 5, 2025|accessdate=May 6, 2025}}

On May 7, 2025, Jefferson Griffin conceded the North Carolina Supreme Court race to Allison Riggs, ending a more than six-month legal challenge and concluding the final uncertified contest of the 2024 general election cycle.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article305898251.html|work=The News & Observer|title=Griffin concedes NC Supreme Court race, ending unprecedented effort to overturn election|first=Kyle|last=Ingram|date=May 7, 2025|accessdate=May 7, 2025}} The North Carolina State Board of Elections issued a certificate of election to Riggs on May 13, 2025.{{cite web|url=https://www.ncsbe.gov/information-voters-challenged-election-protest|publisher=North Carolina Board of Elections|title=Information for Voters Challenged in Election Protest|date=May 9, 2025|accessdate=May 13, 2025}} Later that day, during a ceremony held in the old House chamber of the North Carolina State Capitol, Riggs was administered the oath of office by Associate Justice Anita Earls and officially sworn in to begin her eight-year term on the court.{{cite web|url=https://ncnewsline.com/2025/05/13/allison-riggs-supreme-court-north-carolina-sworn-in/|work=NC Newsline|title=More than six months after Election Day, Allison Riggs is sworn into the NC Supreme Court|first=Brandon|last=Kingdollar|date=May 13, 2025|accessdate=May 13, 2025}}

{{Election box begin no change|title=Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court (Seat 6) Democratic primary election, 2024{{cite web|title=03/05/2024 OFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE|url=https://er.ncsbe.gov/?election_dt=03/05/2024&county_id=0&office=JUD&contest=2505|publisher=North Carolina State Board of Elections|accessdate=April 22, 2024}}

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| candidate = Allison Riggs (incumbent)

| votes = 450,268

| percentage = 69.10

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

| party = Democratic Party (United States)

| candidate = Lora Christine Cubbage

| votes = 201,336

| percentage = 30.90

}}

{{Election box total no change

| votes = 651,604

| percentage = 100.00

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change |title=North Carolina Supreme Court election, 2024{{cite web |title=2024 November General Election Recount |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Press/2024%20General/NC_Supreme_Court_Recount_2024.pdf |access-date=18 December 2024}}

}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Allison Riggs (incumbent)

|votes = 2,770,412

|percentage = 50.01

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Jefferson Griffin

|votes = 2,769,678

|percentage = 49.99

}}

{{Election box total no change

|votes = 5,540,090

|percentage = 100.00

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.oyez.org/advocates/allison_j_riggs Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court] from the Oyez Project

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{{s-bef|before=Michael R. Morgan}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court}}|years=2023–present}}

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{{Current North Carolina statewide political officials}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riggs, Allison}}

Category:1981 births

Category:Living people

Category:Date of birth missing (living people)

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:21st-century American women judges

Category:21st-century American judges

Category:21st-century American women lawyers

Category:21st-century American lawyers

Category:Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni

Category:Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court

Category:North Carolina Court of Appeals judges

Category:North Carolina Democrats

Category:University of Florida alumni