North Carolinians may not know much about how the state's judges are selected. But they know they don't want to change it.

A new poll of North Carolina residents by Elon University found that 90 percent of those surveyed were either not familiar or only "somewhat" familiar with how North Carolina judges are selected. Only 9 percent said they were "very familiar" with the process.

Yet the same survey found that 69 percent said they favor continuing the process of voters electing judges to their positions. Only 20 percent said they favor a change to have judges appointed.

Elon surveyed 563 North Carolina residents Nov. 16-19. The survey had a margin of error or plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

The lawyer for a Fayetteville amusement machine vendor said in court Wednesday that North Carolina lacks a consistent public policy toward gambling when it allows Cherokee Indians to run video poker machines while banning such gaming everywhere else.

Lawyers for the state and the vendor traded arguments before the state Court of Appeals over the legality of a 2006 state law that made machines illegal except on the Cherokee reservation, west of Asheville. A trial court judge in Wake County overturned the law in February.

The three-member appeals panel grilled vendor attorney Hugh Stevens, asking pointed questions about a federal American Indian gambling law that provides the basis for the state's agreement with the Cherokees that allows the tribe to operate a casino. At several points in the hearing, the judges appeared openly skeptical of Stevens’ position that the state law should be struck down.

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The State Employees Association of North Carolina is not happy with a handful of judges.

The association, in its latest legislative newsletter, criticized judges who declined to voluntarily take a 0.5 percent pay cut. Most of the state's judges went along with the request by Gov. Beverly Perdue, who ordered such a cut for other state employees.

But Perdue does not have the authority, under the state constitution, to cut the pay of other elected officials.

About 20 North Carolina judges have refused to volunteer for the cut in pay, although some have said they will donate the amount of the cut to charitable or other causes.

That didn't sit well with SEANC.

"Those judges should be ashamed!" the association wrote in its newsletter.

Elected officials should show leadership and do their part to help the state during such an incredible financial crisis. To refuse to participate along with the working people is elitist and wrong! Every person on the state payroll should share the burden of balancing the budget. At a time when working families are struggling to put food on the table and gas in the car, it is repugnant that any elected official would not voluntarily comply with the same standard. The judges refusing to volunteer to help are a mix of Republicans and Democrats, which means the refusal is not a party line issue. 

It's true that Superior Court Judge William Z. Wood of Clemmons did not agree to let the state cut his pay by 0.5 percent as requested by Gov. Beverly Perdue.

But Wood says he has sent the state a check for 0.5 percent of his $124,382 salary.

Wood was one of about two dozen North Carolina judges on a list of judges who had not agreed to the same pay cut that state employees are absorbing. Most of the state's judges agreed to the pay cut, including all of the judges on the N.C. Supreme Court and the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Perdue had ordered such cuts for state employees to cope with a budget shortfall. But the governor does not have the authority under the state constitution to alter the salaries of elected officials, such as judges.

Wood told Dome today that he declined to go through the procedure for having his pay cut for two reasons. First, he said, he was not confident that the state would properly handle adjustments to tax withholding and retirement accounts caused by a pay cut.

But more important, he said, was his concern for the state constitutional restriction against altering judges pay during their term. He said it was in the constitution to protect against retribution for an unpopular decision by a judge.

"I've always put a big emphasis on the constitution, both state and federal," Wood said. "I'm reluctant to waive a constitutional protection."

But Wood said he did "want to show my solidarity with state employees" who were taking a pay cut. So he wrote a check and mailed it to the state.

State judges are a step closer to having the right to officiate weddings.

The state Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill Monday night that would grant judges the authority, Dan Kane reports.

Each session lawmakers routinely pass bills granting a certain judge the right to perform a wedding on a particular weekend. Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand said that's a waste of time.

"We've had two such bills this session," said Rand, a Fayetteville Democrat. "We've had at least 10 in the last eight or nine years to do this and these individual bills just clog up the administration of what we are about and take up our time. This would allow judges to marry people if they want to."

The bill passed by a 39-5 vote. It now goes to the House.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan is seeking some outside help on judicial appointments.

The Greensboro Democrat said that she will create a four-member panel from around the state to vet candidates for federal judgeships and the state's three U.S. attorneys.

"This committee will be comprised of experienced professionals from across the state and will help ensure that the most qualified and competent candidates are ultimately selected for recommendation," she said in a statement.

Spokesman Dave Hoffman said the committee will include one member each from the eastern, western and central regions of the state and a chairman from anywhere. He did not know who would serve on it yet.

Hagan is particularly concerned with finding a North Carolinian to serve on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, a post that has been held up in the past because of partisan differences between the state's senators.

According to the Legal Times, Hagan met with several possible nominees earlier this year.

A vetting process is not uncommon. The Virginia Bar interviewed potential nominees at the request of that state's two senators.

A bill would let the governor appoint top judges.

Rep. Johnathan Rhyne, a Lincoln County Republican and family law attorney, said he filed the bill to improve the appellate court system.

"It's a recognition that 99 percent of the voting public has no idea who they're voting for," he said.

Under the proposal, a Judicial Nomination Commission would vet potential judges for the N.C. Court of Appeals and the N.C. Supreme Court. They would then forward a list of recommendations to the governor, who would make the appointments.

In many ways, the system would be similar to the one used now for unexpected vacancies, Rhyne said. A difference is that the judges would later face a retention election — essentially an up-or-down vote by the people after they'd been in office for a while.

If they lost, the governor would appoint another judge. 

Rhyne, who served on a commission that looked into the judicial system in the early 1990s, said that the goal is to get better judges.

"Electing judges when the public does not know who they're voting for is like walking down a highway in the dark," he said. "It's dangerous, and you don't need to do that."

Judges have asked to perform weddings before.

In 2001, the legislature passed a bill allowing Superior Court judges to officiate at weddings from May 19 to May 28 of that year.

The bill was written to allow Duplin County Judge Russell Lanier to officiate at his daughter's wedding.

It was added as a provision to an omnibus bill amending marriage statutes signed into law just weeks before the scheduled wedding.

Under state law, only ordained ministers, certain Native American religious leaders and magistrates can serve as officiants — not any other type of judge.

Magistrates are the lowest level of the state's judicial system. Typically they issue arrest warrants, set bail, try small-claims cases and issue subpoenas. They also perform marriages for a small fee or between breaks at the county jailhouse.

(Dome once stumbled onto a late-night wedding while doing police rounds. The bride wore white; the groom, black; the magistrate, a sweater vest behind bulletproof glass.)

A bill introduced this session would allow retired state judges to officiate as well. Like the earlier legislation, it was also written to help a specific judge — in this case, retired N.C. Appeals Court Judge Eddie Greene.

Pat McCrory is not a fan of TV crime procedurals.

At a debate in Atlantic Beach today, the Republican gubernatorial nominee said that his wife is "hooked" on reruns of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Law & Order."

"I have a very tough time watching those two shows because on 'CSI,' they have a crime lab which within minutes — or at the most even hours — they get the results back of DNA tests," he said. "In North Carolina, they're waiting month after month after month after month while cases are held up and our county prisons continue to be full."

He said that "Law & Order" prosecutors dress "as though they can afford to shop at Neiman Marcus," courts have no backlog and judges have new laptops and , while real-life attorneys have a hard time paying their bills and victims wait in packed hallways.

"In North Carolina, we have judges and DAs who are working out of cardboard boxes, as though it's the 1920s and 1930s," he said. 

He also claimed that plea bargains are becoming "non-existent" in North Carolina because defense attorneys are advising clients to plead not guilty because of a long wait for trials and a lack of jail space.

Trivia Check: Neiman Marcus has one North Carolina store — in Charlotte's pricey SouthPark Mall.