Norris' letters

Five people defended Meredith Norris when the Real Estate Commission initially rejected the application for a real estate license by the former aide to disgraced House Speaker Jim Black.

In letters dated late June and early July of 2007, Charlotte Regional Partnership CEO Ronnie Bryant, Prevent Blindness North Carolina President Jennifer Talbot, real estate developer Scott Hallihan and friends Tracy Parker Vollmer and D. Lawrence Bivins wrote letters on her behalf.

Several argued that her guilty plea to a misdemeanor lobbying law violation came about because of political agendas.

Bryant wrote that Norris' lobbying was "hard to get past for those who were on a mission to defeat" Black. Bivins said "politically inspired legal and media attacks" were "part of an epic power struggle with which she had little to do."

Hallihan said it was a "minor offense" and argued "it would be tragic to allow media hype and speculation" to keep her from making a living in an unrelated industry.

And Vollmer said Norris was "swept up in an ugly political vacuum."