That’s according to a report at WRAL. The report goes on to say:
Justices adopted the new rule on Election Day as part of what court officials said was an effort to avoid the potential for 3-3 ties in cases when a sitting justice has to recuse himself or herself. In the case of ties, the lower court opinion that was appealed to the court is left in place.
Although ties are rare, they are not unheard of. The highest profile 3-3 split this year effectively struck down a state law that would have allowed Supreme Court justices to run in retention elections without facing opposition.
However, the effort to avoid such deadlocks drew criticism from a number of legal experts, who said the state constitution doesn’t allow such substitutions. At the very least, experts suggested, the court would need to get approval for such a procedure from the General Assembly, although there could still be constitutional questions. …
In an order signed Thursday by Clerk J. Bryan Boyd, the court withdrew the new rule “effective immediately,” adding that it was “rescinded in its entirety.”
A spokeswoman for the court did not explain why the rule was rescinded but did say, “The General Assembly may address this if it wishes.”