news-record.com

Later this month, the N.C. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that Gov. Bev Perdue has turned into a heated political showdown. The justices should make their decision based on the law, not public passions.

At issue is whether criminals sentenced to life in prison during the 1970s are due for release. Several courts have said yes, reflecting laws in force at the time that defined a life sentence as 80 years and other rules that allowed inmates to cut years off their sentences for good conduct and meeting other incentives.

The governor has attacked those rulings, declaring the courts are trying to force the state to return dangerous murderers and rapists to North Carolina communities. That’s a chilling prospect and it’s surely not the result that anyone really wants. But the courts have a responsibility to uphold the law, even if doing so is unpopular.

The governor and the attorney general have presented a different interpretation of the law, contending the inmates are decades away from release. But those are their public statements. Internally, Department of Correction officials have not seemed so sure of that, according to e-mails obtained by The News & Observer of Raleigh.

“Per the secretary’s office,” a DOC administrator on Oct. 13 directed wardens to meet with affected inmates and advise them of their release later that month, an e-mail revealed.

On Oct. 22, however, the governor declared the inmates would not be turned loose. Her statement was read to the prisoners, clearly telling them that the governor was calling the shots.

This was an example of strong leadership by Perdue, who certainly was concerned for public safety. She also won popular support by defying the courts, even quipping that she would go to jail herself if necessary.

The next move, and the last word, now belong to the Supreme Court. When it renders a judgment in this politically charged dispute, the governor will either be vindicated or overruled. If the decision doesn’t go her way, she should nevertheless meet her responsibility to carry out the law.