NCICL Newsletters
April 2011 Newsletter
Elizabeth Lincicome
May 11th, 2011
Check out NCICL's April newsletter for updates on our community involvement, press mentions, and incentives cases we're keeping a close eye on.
March 2011 Newsletter
Elizabeth Lincicome
Apr 1st, 2011
On Wednesday, March 2nd, Justice Robert F. Orr participated in a debate on economic incentives as part of Leadership North Carolina's Economic Development Session. Read more....
February 2011 at NCICL
Elizabeth Lincicome
Mar 1st, 2011
On Wednesday, February 9th, NCICL Executive Director and Senior Counsel Justice Robert Orr participated in oral arguments before the NC Court of Appeals. The Court has not released its decision in this case.
January 2011 Newsletter
Elizabeth Lincicome
Feb 4th, 2011
On Monday, January 10th, at 1:00 pm, Senior Staff Attorney Jeanette Doran participated in oral arguments before the N.C. Court of Appeals in Saine, et al. v. State of NC, et al. (Johnson and Wales).
December 2010: A look back at our best year ever...
Elizabeth Lincicome
Jan 5th, 2011
In the six years since we were first incorporated, 2010 was NCICL's best year yet. Not only did we win several important court cases - all centered on upholding the North Carolina Constitution, we also unveiled our very own iPhone and Droid Apps, and exceeded our media and fundraising goals.
October 2010 at NCICL
Elizabeth Lincicome
Oct 31st, 2010
On October 5th, members of NCICL attended the WCBA's Business Luncheon and Professionalism Roundtable. On October 14th, the N.C. Supreme Court Historical Society hosted its 2010 Annual Meeting at the Charlotte Museum of History. Judge Allyson Duncan of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals was the keynote speaker. On October 18th, Senior Staff Attorney Jason Kay spoke to the Resident Lenders of North Carolina on the topic of Regulatory Capture and Competition in NC.
September at NCICL
Elizabeth Lincicome
Sep 30th, 2010
The North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law’s Executive Director Bob Orr and Senior Staff Attorney Jeanette Doran, in collaboration with Gene Boyce and Dan Boyce of the Boyce & Isley law firm, filed a Notice of Appeal and Petition for Discretionary Review on behalf of Plaintiffs W.D. Goldston, Jr. and James E. Harrington in a case challenging diversion of taxes specifically collected for the building of specific roads and highways and placed in North Carolina’s Highway Trust Fund. The funds were transferred by Governor Mike Easley and the North Carolina General Assembly to the State’s general fund in order to balance the State’s budget. On September 7th, NCICL participated in oral arguments when this case went before the N.C. Supreme Court.
August at NCICL
Elizabeth Lincicome
Aug 31st, 2010
This case was brought by North Carolina public charter schools and parents and students affiliated with those schools who challenged the constitutionality of the State’s inequitable funding system for public charter schools. On August 10th, NCICL attorneys received the printed Record on Appeal from the N.C. Court of Appeals.
July 2010 at NCICL
Elizabeth Lincicome
Aug 3rd, 2010
This case was brought by North Carolina public charter schools and parents and students affiliated with those schools who challenged the constitutionality of the State’s inequitable funding system for public charter schools. On June 21st, attorneys Robert Orr and Jason Kay filed a Notice of Appeal to the N.C. Court of Appeals. The parties involved have finalized the Record on Appeal and the appeal is moving forward.
June 2010 at NCICL
Cynthia Crowdus & Elizabeth Lincicome
Jul 1st, 2010
The Certificate of Need suit challenges the practically unlimited discretion of the State Health Coordinating Council (SHCC) in deciding who gets to offer new institutional health care services. The SHCC produces the State Medical Facilities Plan (SMFP), which determines whether and where many new medical services will be offered. Last month, the judges involved in the case affirmed the trial court's decision and determined that the SMFP, CON process, and CON law did not violate any of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights. Most recently, on June 8th, co-counsel at Nelson Mullins, along with Robert F. Orr and Jason Kay, filed a Notice of Appeal and Petition for Discretionary Review with the NC Supreme Court.
May 2010 at NCICL
Cynthia Crowdus & Kristin Mar
May 31st, 2010
Saine, et al., v. State, et al. (Johnson and Wales) This lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the State of North Carolina’s appropriations to Johnson and Wales University and seeks to stop any future payments and to have the millions already given to Johnson and Wales returned to the State treasury. Attorneys Robert F. Orr and Jeanette Doran filed a Notice of Appeal at the end of March and currently working toward settling the Record on Appeal.
April 2010 at NCICL
Cynthia Crowdus & Kristin Mar
Apr 30th, 2010
Former intern William Morrison, a recent graduate, along with his wife, Lara, from the Cooley School of Law, have both passed the New York State Bar. Congratulations!
March 2010 at NCICL
Cynthia Crowdus & Kristin Mar
Mar 31st, 2010
On March 8th, attorney Jason Kay filed a friend of the court brief in this case. The case addresses the burdens placed on emerging political parties and their constitutional rights to participate in the election process. The appeal was filed by the plaintiffs, seeking review of the trial court’s ruling on a case in which the plaintiffs alleged that the state statutes governing the recognition of political parties violate the North Carolina Constitution. The trial court ruled that plaintiff’s claims did not surmount the presumption that North Carolina’s ballot access scheme is constitutional. A divided Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that statutes were constitutional under articles of the North Carolina Constitution that address the rights to free association, free speech, and equal protection of the laws. While the Court of Appeals panel unanimously held that the statutes infringed on fundamental constitutional rights and, therefore, the statutes must survive strict scrutiny, a majority of the panel took the position that the legislature had met this high constitutional burden, holding that the infringing statutes were narrowly tailored to achieve only the alleged compelling state interest.
February 2010 at NCICL
Cynthia Crowdus & Kristin Mar
Feb 28th, 2010
"[G]overnment is instituted, and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right of acquiring and using property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety… [T]he people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their government, whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purposes of its institution." –James Madison
January 2010 at NCICL
Cynthia Crowdus & Kristin Mar
Feb 1st, 2010
On January 21st, Senior Staff Attorney Jason Kay appeared as the Guest Speaker to the Law and Public Policy Luncheon. Discussion centered around the case Libertarian Party of NC v. State which is a constitutional challenge to North Carolina's ballot access restrictions. Kay discussed, among other things: North Carolina's ballot access laws and the obstacles they create for emerging political parties; the constitutional rights of political parties to participate in the election process; and the primary legal issues in Libertarian Party of NC v. State.