The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that then-Gov. Mike Easley acted unconstitutionally in 2002 when he seized $80 million from the Highway Trust Fund to balance the budget.

The court's decision could restrict what steps governors can take during financial crises.

The majority of the three judge panel, Judge Robert N. Hunter Jr. and Judge Barbara Jackson, ruled that the state constitution does not give the governor authority to take money appropriated for one purpose -- road building, in this case -- and use it for another.  

Judge Linda McGee dissented, saying the majority's decision removes the governor's ability to act quickly in a crisis.

UPDATE: Gov. Beverly Perdue plans to appeal the decision to the N.C. Supreme Court, according to spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson.

North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Barbara Jackson said today that she will run for the state Supreme Court seat held by Justice Edward Thomas Brady.

Jackson and Brady are both Republicans. Brady has not yet announced whether he will run for re-election, but Jackson's announcement suggests he won't. It would be highly unusual for a sitting Court of Appeals judge to challenge a justice from her own party.

Court of Appeals Judge Bob Hunter, a Democrat, has said he plans to run for the seat, as well.

Judicial races are technically nonpartisan in North Carolina. The candidate's political party does not appear on the ballot.

Jackson was first elected to the appeals court in 2004. She previously served as general counsel for the Department of Labor and as associate general counsel for former Gov. Jim Martin, a Republican. She also clerked for then-Associate Justice Burley Mitchell, a Democrat, on the N.C. Supreme Court.

A majority of state appellate judges are women.

After Cheri Beasley's win in November, eight of the 15 seats on the N.C. Court of Appeals are held by women. The court is the second-highest in the state after the Supreme Court.

Along with Beasley, the female judges are Linda Stephens, Linda McGee, Wanda Bryant, Ann Marie Calabria, Martha Geer, Barbara Jackson and Donna Stroud.

Although the posts are officially nonpartisan, Calabria, Jackson and Stroud are Republicans; the rest of the judges are Democrats. They are elected statewide.

Two other women, Jewel Ann Farlow and Kristin Ruth, lost campaigns in November.

State Supreme Court justices Robin Hudson, Patricia Timmons-Goodson and Sarah Parker previously served as judges on the Court of Appeals.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated Jackson's affiliation.

It's rare that a lawyer publicly criticizes any judge, let alone one with the N.C. Court of Appeals.

So it was noteworthy when Raleigh lawyer Marvin Schiller took umbrage in a recent court filing with what Court of Appeals Judge Barbara Jackson wrote about him in a March 20 ruling.

The three-judge panel, which included Jackson, ruled against Schiller's client. In the ruling, Jackson stated that Schiller failed to asked for a speedy review of an appeal — a slight that Schiller apparently couldn't let stand, Andrea Weigl reports.

And so Schiller decided to make it clear that he did ask for an expedited review. He wrote in his petition for rehearing that Jackson "falsely and wrongly accused the undersigned counsel of not doing what he in demonstrable fact did do."

Schiller then asked Jackson to recuse herself from considering his petition. He notes that he and Jackson ran against each other for the court in 2004. Jackson declined to comment or to recuse herself, citing judicial ethics rules.