The N.C. Supreme Court has ruled that doctors can be present at executions.

In a 4-3 decision authored by Justice Edward Thomas Brady, the court found that the N.C. Medical Board could not prohibit physicians from participating in the state's capital punishment procedures.

A state statute, "by its plain language, envisions physician participation in executions in some professional capacity," Brady wrote.

The medical board, a professional group that sets ethics rules for doctors, had barred doctors from monitoring inmates who were being put to death. In a lawsuit, the state Department of Correction argued that state law requiring doctors trumped the board's decision.

A Wake County Superior Court judge sided with the state in 2007, but executions remained in limbo while the case was being resolved. In today's ruling, the majority of the state Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's ruling.

In a dissent, Justices Robin Hudson and Patricia Timmons-Goodson and Chief Justice Sarah Parker argued the court should have let the legislature decide the issue.

Robin Hudson will head a women's group.

The state Supreme Court justice will serve as president of the Women's Forum of North Carolina, a nonpartisan group founded in 1976 during the push for the Equal Rights Amendment.

The group now works to elect more women to public office through a center on women in politics that is a partnership with Peace College, a young adult mentoring program and a women's advocacy day at the legislature.

Hudson replaces state government lobbyist Debra Derr.

Other officers were named at the April 18 meeting in Cary: Lobbyist Paula Wolf, vice president; political consultant Linda Suggs, secretary; and small businesswoman Valerie Fields, treasurer.

When do legislators start their jobs?

As noted previously, there is some dispute over when exactly Gov. Beverly Perdue's term began. As it turns out, there's a similar situation for state representatives and senators.

According to Article II, Section 9 of the state constitution, the terms of office "shall commence on the first day of January."

This year, most legislators won't be sworn in until the opening day ceremony on Jan. 28, but their terms have already begun in other days. The legislative Web site has already been updated to include the newly elected, and they began receiving their paychecks on Jan. 1.

A few freshman legislators have decided to get started early.

Sen. Josh Stein of Raleigh was sworn in today at noon in a ceremony in the capitol, while Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte was sworn in there.

Update: Justice Robin Hudson swore in Stein before a crowd of about 250 people, including Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, Sen. Marc Basnight and Rep. Deborah Ross, among others.

"I thought it would be nice to have an opportunity to be with supporters and friends to thank them because (the campaign) as a collective effort," he said.

He said Sens. Don Vaughan and Don Davis will also hold early swearings-in.

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.

Three of seven state Supreme Court justices are women.

With Justice Bob Edmunds winning a second term in November, the women on the state's highest court remain Chief Justice Sarah Parker and associate justices Patricia Timmons-Goodson and Robin Hudson.

Although the positions are officially nonpartisan, all three are Democrats.

Timmons-Goodson and Hudson were elected in 2006.

A Supreme Court justice since 1992 and chief justice since 2006, Parker is the longest-sitting member of the current justices. She is also the third woman to serve as chief justice in North Carolina.

The first, Susie Sharp, was elected to that post in 1974, the first woman in the country to be elected the chief justice of a state supreme court. The second, Rhoda Billings, was appointed in 1986 but lost an election to the post that fall. Billings was the only Republican woman to serve on the court.

No other women have served on the N.C. Supreme Court.

State judges may be nonpartisan in North Carolina.

But that doesn't mean a few aren't in the audience at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner tonight.

After N.C. Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek recognized several U.S. representatives, Democratic members of the Council of State, House Speaker Joe Hackney and various legislators, he gave a shoutout to state Supreme Court Justices Robin Hudson, Sarah Parker and Patricia Timmons-Goodson and state Appeals Court judges John Arrowood, Linda Stephens and Jim Wynn.

Lawyer Bob Hunter urged a judge to help clarify a law that he says has allowed outside groups, such as Fairjudges.net, to wrongly influence elections by making excessive campaign contributions.

Using a lawsuit brought by Judge Ann Marie Calabria in 2006, Hunter reopened the issue of whether Fairjudges acted appropriately in their support of a candidate who beat Calabria in the 2006 election, reports Titan Barksdale.

Hunter told Judge James Spencer Jr. Thursday that a court ruling in Calabria's favor can help protect the electoral process in North Carolina.

"You can say the flood gates are wide open or you can say under these circumstances, this was an illegal contribution [by Fairjudges]," said Hunter, who is a candidate for the N.C. Court of Appeals. "We need a judge to tell us what the law is."

In 2006, Calabria wanted the State Board of Elections to investigate whether the state Democratic Party was working with Fairjudges to help her opponent, Associate Justice Robin Hudson. The board recently did not take any action against Fairjudges after a report of the investigation was finished.

The report said that the organizers of Fairjudges had an agenda and likely coordinated with an employee of the state Democratic Party to help push Fairjudges' agenda during the 2006 election. By law, groups such as Fairjudges are prohibited from coordinating with parties, but a state elections board member says the law has some loopholes.

Susan Nichols, special deputy attorney general representing the board, said the lawsuit is moot because Hudson has already been declared the winner of the election. And the State Board of Elections has decided against taking action against Fairjudges.

Spencer will rule on the case at a later date.