Justice Martin withdraws from Durham event after alleged threats

On June 23, America’s Future and The Assembly hosted Newsmakers: A250, a panel discussion on political civility leading up to the 250th anniversary of America. But one panelist, Mark Martin — founder and dean of High Point Law School and former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court — withdrew as a speaker leading up to the event due to alleged threats of political violence, both against Martin and the event itself. 

America’s Future told the Carolina Journal in an email that Martin decided to cancel to avoid distracting from the event and its mission to promote civility, celebrate 250 years of America, and look ahead to the next 250 years.

“America is based, in part, on the free exchange of ideas and freedom of speech,” Eric Kohn, CEO of America’s Future, told the Carolina Journal in an email. “When you encounter ideas with which you disagree, the appropriate response is more speech, and to counter those ideas with better ideas. Threats of political violence disrupt the way the American system is supposed to work and we’ve sadly seen too many incidences of actual political violence. That’s not the way we want to live. It’s unfortunate that such threats led to Justice Martin withdrawing from this event. We should be able to agree to fight things out in the marketplace of ideas, the way our founders intended.”

The attention on the event from left-wing activists appeared to trace back to an email, allegedly issued by Carolina Forward and posted on Reddit, calling on its followers to attend the event and ask Martin questions about the alleged 2020 election fraud and the Jan. 6 fallout.

Carolina Forward did not respond to the Carolina Journal’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Christ West, the southeast regional director for America’s Future, told the Carolina Journal that the event would not include an open question-and-answer session. 

The Alleged Threats

According to America’s Future, the Reddit thread contained multiple threats on Martin’s life, which have since been removed. However, comments were left up that encouraged people to purchase the maximum allocation of tickets and then not show up. 

Kathleen Duval, professor of history at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Christie Norris, director of education at the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources; Devin Duncan, UNC student body president; and Leslie Garvin, executive director of NC Campus Engagement, were the remaining panel speakers. 

“It’s sad to see that there are folks who chose not to celebrate America’s 250th with us but instead chose to steep themselves in partisan politics that distracts from the joy of this season and this anniversary,” said West. “Looking forward, we’ve learned from the recent years America needs to be a place of (even more specifically in North Carolina) political civility and hospitality where everyone’s voices are included in the discussion, even if we don’t like where they’re coming from. We all live in the same state, we care about a lot of the same things, and I think as North Carolinians, we’re blessed to be in this state with such natural beauty and such innovative and ingenious people. And I’m excited to see what’s next for America, even despite the response of some folks. I hope this event helps them change the way they’re behaving.”

2020 election Fallout and Jan. 6

According to a New York Times article, Martin was part of a team of lawyers who drafted a lawsuit during the post-2020 election fallout and served as an informal advisor to now-President Donald Trump.

“Regarding the 2020 presidential election, I was not retained as a lawyer by any individual or organization and did not serve as counsel of record in any legal proceeding,” Martin told Inside Higher Ed, in a 2023 article about his role with High Point University School of Law.

Martin told the publication he was not present during the events that transpired in the nation’s capital on Jan. 6 and that he has “condemned the violence and lawlessness that took place” in the aftermath of the election.

According to Inside Higher Ed, Martin said that Trump was never a client and that “he was not invited to speak to the House committee investigating the insurrection.”

“The rule of law allows individuals and parties to contest election results in court if they believe the results were inconsistent with the law,” Martin told Inside Higher Ed at the time. “This is how the rule of law works, and this is what I support. It is consistent with who I am, my life’s work, and the oath that I have taken to support the Constitution.”

West told the Carolina Journal that no protestors showed up to the event.

“Justice Martin withdraws from Durham event after alleged threats” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.