Thomas Farr, a longtime North Carolina redistricting attorney who always defended Republican interests but whose nomination for a federal judgeship was blocked by two Republican senators in 2018, has died, his lawyer said. Colleagues made the announcement Tuesday. He was 69 years old.
Phil Strach, a fellow election law attorney, said Farr died Monday of a series of heart problems and that he had discussed Farr’s death with his family. Strach declined to say where Farr died.
“He definitely should be remembered in North Carolina, and in many ways across the nation, as what I would call a giant of the legal world,” Struck said. “Without legal merit, he cannot be appointed as a federal judge.”
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Strach said Farr is an Ohio native who attended law school at Emory University and Georgetown University before coming to North Carolina in the 1980s.
Although Mr. Farr specializes in employment law, he has become known for his work in redistricting litigation. He participated in oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1990s, when voters successfully argued that unconventional majority-black congressional districts drawn by North Carolina Democrats violated the Voting Rights Act.
Mr. Farr participated in voting and redistricting cases in the 2000s and into the 2010s, when Republicans took control of the state Legislature and their laws and redistricting policies were called into question. Farr was formally nominated four times (twice each by Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump) to serve as a federal district court judge in eastern North Carolina, but was never confirmed.
Thomas Farr is sworn in during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be a district judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina at the Capitol on September 20, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
During the nomination process, civil rights groups and Democrats criticized Farr for defending North Carolina’s vote and redistricting laws that judges found to be racist. That included a 2013 law that repealed provisions such as requiring a photo ID to vote and shortening early voting days.
Critics also focused on Mr. Farr’s time as a lawyer for Republican Sen. Jesse Helms’ 1990 re-election campaign. The U.S. Department of Justice alleged that the postcards sent by the campaign to mostly black voters were intended to intimidate them into voting.
Farr told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that he was not consulted about the postcard, had no role in drafting or sending it, and was appalled by its language.
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In November 2018, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina joined Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona and 49 Democrats in announcing that he would not vote for Farr, sealing off his confirmation. Scott, the only black Republican in the chamber, said he decided to vote against Farr because a 1991 Justice Department memo on the postcard issue “shed new light on Farr’s activities.” Ta.
Mr. Struck, who worked with Mr. Farr for 25 years, most recently as a law partner at Nelson Mullins, said Mr. Farr’s defeat was the result of politics that blown suspicions out of proportion. Farr said he was “perplexed and embarrassed by the negative backlash” he received because he believed the redistricting efforts of the 1990s broke new ground in protecting black voting rights. said. Mr. Strach described Mr. Farr as a caring person who supports the next generation of lawyers.
North Carolina Republican House Speaker Tim Moore said Farr’s “contributions to the legal profession, tireless advocacy for justice, and commitment to the Constitution and founding principles of the United States will remain an inspiration to those who knew him for many years to come.” I will continue.” said in a news release.
