Republican Sen. Richard Burr also has sent some suggestions to the White House about whom to appoint to the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court has four open seats, but just one sitting judge from North Carolina. State leaders have long argued that there should be more N.C. judges on the panel. Presidents typically seek input from a state's senators before making nominations, Barb Barrett reports.

Burr said in an interview he offered "a sufficient number" of names in response to an administration request, but he wouldn’t give an exact figure or reveal names because, he said, he doesn’t want to pressure the White House.

Still, Burr said, constituents can assume that his list leans more Democratic than Republican — because he understands the political winds have changed.

More after the jump.

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Sen. Kay Hagan's office says she misspoke Wednesday when she told reporters that she had forwarded three names to the White House as potential judicial nominations for the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In fact, the senator is in ongoing discussions with White House counsel about several possibilities, said Dave Hoffman, Hagan's spokesman, Barb Barrett reports. So while names have been talked about, there actually is no three-person short list for the appeals court, Hoffman said.

Hagan's statewide advisory panel also has agreed to speak with anyone who has expressed interest in the 4th Circuit, he said.

He said that in late June, Hagan's office will send the White House three-person lists — and make the lists public — for other federal judicial openings for roles such as U.S. District Judge and U.S. attorney.

Those recommendations are what Hagan was thinking of when she misspoke about the appeals court, Hoffman said.

Sen. Kay Hagan has forwarded three names to the White House as potential judicial nominations for the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hagan would not disclose the names this morning in a conference call with reporters, because she hasn't told the other candidates that they weren't among the recommendations, Barb Barrett reports.

President Barack Obama will make official nominations to the Senate.

Hagan, a freshman Democrat, said she is committed to seeing two of the four open seats on court go to North Carolinians. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals covers the states of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland.

Hagan named a statewide board this spring to help vet candidates and guide her on her recommendations. Hagan said she met with several of the candidates.

North Carolina now has just one judge on the court, which is represented by 15 judgeships.

Virginia Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner announced Tuesday that they had sent forward the name of Virginia State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Keenan to the White House.

Update: Former Supreme Court Justice Burley Mitchell, who led Hagan's search efforts, said they interviewed more than 40 candidates.

Second Update: Hagan's office said later that she misspoke and there is no list. 

Law students participating in a moot court competition at N.C. Central University this month may be more nervous than usual.

Presiding over the panel will be Chief Justice John G. Roberts.

Roberts' two-day visit on Monday and Tuesday, April 13 and 14, will be the first time a U.S. chief justice has come to the school in its 70-year history.

On April 13, Roberts will conduct a swearing-in ceremony to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar for graduates of the NCCU law school.

The moot court event, to take place April 14, will not be open to the public or the media, NCCU officials said. Roberts will serve on the moot court panel with Judge Allyson Duncan, a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and retired state Chief Justice Henry Frye.

Roberts also will attend a lunch with students.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan has named lawyers to help her with judicial appointments.

The Greensboro Democrat announced that former U.S. attorney Janice McKenzie Cole, criminal attorney Locke Clifford and N.C. State Bar vice president Anthony di Santi will serve on the panel advising her.

The panel will be led by former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell.

"I have brought together some of North Carolina's best and brightest, each of whom offers a diverse range of legal expertise, to help me recommend federal nominees that all North Carolinians, regardless of their political affiliation, will be proud of," Hagan said in a statement.

Each is from a different area of the state: Cole lives in Perquimans County, Clifford lives in Greensboro, di Santi in Blowing Rock, and Mitchell in Raleigh. All four are registered Democrats.

The group will make recommendations to Hagan for U.S. attorneys, federal district cout judgeships and appointments to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hagan hopes to end partisan gridlock over the Fourth Circuit.

* Former judicial candidate Rachel Lea Hunter could lose her law license for continuing to use the nickname "Madame Justice" on her Web site.

* Conservative blogger Chris Hayes notes that the top five in that poll of CEOs of best business states are all anti-union.

* The Charlotte Observer's Jack Betts says U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's panel to screen federal judicial candidates as a change from the past.

* Public Policy Polling finds President Obama's approval/disapproval at 53/40 in North Carolina; Hagan's at 36/34. 

A LITTLE OFF THE TOP: Gov. Beverly Perdue's haircut of the state budget turned out to be a light trim, not a buzzcut. Using an accounting trick, tax hikes on cigarettes and beer and $1.7 billion in federal stimulus money, she put forth a $21 billion budget. Legislative Republicans howled, while Democrats argued over the tricks and taxes.

LET THE SUN SHINE IN: It was Sunshine Week in North Carolina. Perdue and Attorney General Roy Cooper backed a bill to disclose deaths in mental hospitals, others promoted legislative TV. Legislators continue to balk at releasing e-mails. And an analysis by the Associated Press found that the state third best at putting records online.

COURTING JUDGES: U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan is looking for some help with federal judges. After years of partisan fighting, the Greensboro Democrat has made it a top goal to get a Tar Heel on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. This week she announced she would put together a panel of experts to vet potential candidates.

IN OTHER NEWS: A national liberal group aired a local TV ad to pressure U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge to vote for President Obama's budget. ... A plan to fix the State Health Plan got caught up in concerns it would hurt independent pharmacists. ... State Sen. Steve Goss backed down on a bill to criminalize blog libel, fittingly telling a local blogger first. ... Meantime, Sen. Paul Stam sought to let towns avoid buying classified ads to publicize town meetings.

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.

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan wants to get another federal judge appointed from North Carolina.

The problem: It's not entirely up to her.

North Carolina currently has only one judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers the Carolinas, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. 

As former Domester David Ingram has reported, some senators think the state should get as many as three of the four vacant seats.

Over the past 15 years, partisan fighting between the state's senators has prevented that. Under longstanding tradition, the minority senator can foil a nomination by withholding a permission form known as a "blue slip." 

In a letter to the media today, Hagan said she wants to move beyond the partisanship, but that will depend on whether Sen. Richard Burr or other Republicans in the area covered by the Fourth Circuit agree.

Dave Hoffman, a spokesman for Hagan, said she'll do "everything in her power" to prevent that.

"Senator Hagan is committed to working with her colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make sure that we have judges who can get appointed," he said.

After the jump, Hagan's letter.

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* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts says North Carolina "has long been under-represented" in the Fourth Circuit because of partisan differences.

* Biofuels Center of North Carolina names W. Steven Burke as president, longtime political insider Norris Tolson as chairman of the board.

* N.C. Policy Watch's Adam Linker can't find a copy of State Health Plan head Jack Walker's doctoral thesis in ProQuest/UMI database.

* Democratic pollster Tom Jensen and Greensboro columnist Doug Clark agree that Rep. Heath Shuler's decision not to run for Senate is a good thing.