As a 10th generation North Carolinian, Michael Stading said he enjoys being out in the community getting to know voters and doing work that serves his community. Standing is a Republican running for reelection for the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Before serving in the Court of Appeals, Stading was a prosecutor in Mecklenburg County and later became a district judge. Stading has also served in the U.S. Air Force since 2016 in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, which is something he still does today. In this role, Stading provides legal service to people deployed and also handles the military’s code of service from a legal perspective.
Stading said this experience has prepared him for his other role as a Court of Appeals judge because as a district judge, one does a little bit of everything.
“When you’re a district court judge you do about everything you can think of in the legal world,” Standing said. “You're kind of the workhorse of the court system. You handle civil law, criminal law, domestic law, domestic violence, I do a couple of special reports, I do drug treatment work, we try to not just hammer people but get them better, and help and actually help them out.”
When interpreting the Constitution, Stading would describe himself as an originalist. He said this is what makes the most sense as it provides the clearest guide for citizens to follow.
“We need to know what it means,” Stading said. “There needs to be some predictability so every citizen isn’t caught off guard about what the law means.”
Stading said while judges are elected in North Carolina with their party designation listed on the ballot, once elected, this is not something that should have an affect on their role at all.
“It should never make its way into the courtroom,” Stading said. “No judge should ever walk in in the morning thinking, ‘I'm going to be the best Democrat or Republican today.’”