Earls stressed that an independent and impartial judiciary is fundamental to a healthy democracy and to ensuring equality before the law.
Estefanía Pinto Ruiz
Pinto Ruiz covers Latino and immigrant communities in North Carolina, with a focus on democracy, immigration, and rural communities for Report for America. Previously, Pinto Ruiz covered agriculture, the environment, and water for KWQC TV6 News in the Quad Cities for Report for America and the Ag & Water Desk. Her coverage focused on giving farmers a voice and raising awareness about the importance and difficulty of the work they do to feed America, often in an unpredictable industry. Some of her extensive coverage focused on mental health in agriculture, grain silo safety, and proposed pesticide legislation, a story for which she received an honorable mention in the 2026 North American Agricultural Journalists Writing Awards.
Pinto Ruiz is bilingual in English and Spanish and is very proud to be Colombian, so it is common to find her looking for what she misses most as an immigrant: Colombian food and a good cup of Colombian coffee, along with her adventure companion, her dog Miel.
