The law also stipulated that the judges should record their decisions in writing and read them in court and permitted them to elect a chief justice from among their ranks.

[1] In 1818, the General Assembly approved a bill proposed by State Senator William Gaston to create a distinct, independent Supreme Court with exclusive appellate jurisdiction over questions of law and equity arising from Superior Court cases.

Henderson and Hall made Taylor chief justice, and the court held its first meeting on January 1, 1819.

After the fire, the court briefly convened in the meeting house of the First Presbyterian Church until the capitol was rebuilt.

[2] Growing Jacksonian sentiment in North Carolina throughout the 1820s and 1830s generated populist anger towards the court, with many citizens feeling the institution was distant from the people and that the judges were over-compensated.

Populist legislators introduced a measure to reduce the judges' salaries in 1832 and a constitutional amendment to abolish the court in 1835, but such actions did not succeed.

[1] In 1846, the General Assembly passed a law requiring the court hold a term in Morganton every year to ease travel burdens for lawyers in the western portion of the state.

The court had no access to a law library during its stay in the city, and many lawyers later criticized the decisions made there for being deficient.

The governor was responsible for filling interim vacancies on the court pending the holding of the next state legislative election.

[1] Beginning that year, the Supreme Court met in buildings located along the periphery of Union Square in Raleigh.

In response, in 1901, the North Carolina House of Representatives voted to impeach Republican Chief Justice David M. Furches and Associate Justice Robert M. Douglas for issuing a supposedly unconstitutional mandamus directing the state treasurer to disburse money.

[11] It has the power to depublish Court of Appeals decisions, thus allowing a lower ruling to stand but preventing it from forming legal precedent.

[13] Justices of the court also sometimes issue advisory opinions in response to questions of law brought by officials in the executive and legislative branches.

[14] The Supreme Court is constitutionally required to meet in Raleigh, unless directed otherwise by the General Assembly.