The state Court of Appeals has upheld Sen. Julia Boseman's adoption of her former domestic partner's child.

A three-judge panel of the court unanimously agreed that Boseman's 2005 adoption of Melissa Jarrell's child cannot be undone. State law creates a nearly impossible hurdle for reversing completed adoptions, and to nullify the adoption and deny Boseman joint custody, Jarrell had challenged whether state law even allowed gay or lesbian parents to adopt.

"While [state law] does not specifically address same-sex adoptions, these statutes do make clear that a wide range of adoptions are contemplated and permitted, so long as they protect the minor’s 'needs, interests, and rights,'" Judge Wanda Bryant wrote in the opinion.

Bryant wrote that the court would have reached the same conclusion if the couple in question were heterosexual.

State law governing adoption does not specifically mention adoption by same-sex couples. Jim Lea, a domestic law specialist in Wilmington and one of Boseman's attorneys said that such adoptions have already been occurring. But the court opinion affirms the right of gay and lesbian couples to adopt.

"Now I think it's very clear that if a couple chooses to go out and adopt the child and execute the necessary waivers, that homosexual couples can adopt children," Lea said. "To say that a couple should not be able to adopt a child because they're gay, on that reason alone is just plain wrong."

Efforts to reach Jarrell's attorney Tuesday failed.

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.

Public Policy Polling also works for candidates.

The Democratic polling firm has become well known for its tracking polls on the presidential and gubernatorial races in North Carolina.

But it's also done surveys for more than a dozen state candidates, according to campaign finance reports on the State Board of Elections.

The firm has done work for state Reps. Bernard Allen and Grier Martin; state House candidate Ed Ridpath; state Sens. Clark Jenkins and Dan Clodfelter; and judicial candidates Wanda Bryant, Debra Sasser and Elizabeth McCrodden. In Raleigh, it's polled for Mayor Charles Meeker and City Councilman Thomas Crowder.

It's also polled for the Wake County Democratic Party, the N.C. Association of Educators PAC and the Conservation Council of North Carolina. 

The N.C. Center for Public Policy Research has added three new board members.

Ken Eudy, chief executive officer of Raleigh public relations firm Capstrat; Natalie English, senior vice president of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce; and Betty Craven, president of the Warner Foundation, were elected to the center's board of directors.

The 23-member board also includes N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Wanda Bryant and state Sen. Jean Preston, among others.

Board members serve three-year terms.