New Hanover County Schools Join Civitas CLF Lawsuit

RALEIGH – New Hanover County Schools have signed on with the Civitas Center for Law and Freedom (CLF) as plaintiff in a suit filed against the North Carolina Attorney General alleging that settlement money was illegally funneled to special interest groups.

The original defendant in the suit filed in October 2016 was NC Governor Roy Cooper, in his previous capacity as Attorney General, who violated the North Carolina Constitution and legal precedent set by the State Supreme Court as detailed in our original complaint. The defendant in this suit is now NC Attorney General Josh Stein.

Article IX, Section 7 of the North Carolina Constitution says that “all moneys, stocks, bonds, and other property belonging to a county school fund, and the clear proceeds of all penalties and forfeitures and of all fines collected in the several counties for any breach of the penal laws of the State, shall belong to and remain in the several counties, and shall be faithfully appropriated and used exclusively for maintaining free public schools.”

Civitas President Francis De Luca said, “The Attorney General’s office must be held accountable for short changing North Carolina schools of funds that are rightfully theirs. By signing on as plaintiffs, New Hanover County school officials have made it clear that they want the Attorney General to follow the law and previous court rulings. We are confident the courts will uphold the North Carolina constitution and stop this ongoing undermining of North Carolina law.”

To read the agreement click here.

The Center for Law and Freedom (CLF), a nonprofit public interest law firm housed within the Civitas Institute, provides free legal representation to North Carolinians facing governmental violations of their constitutional or other legal rights. CLF represents North Carolinians in cases such as administrative agency actions, constitutional litigation, and transparency lawsuits. The Center is part of the Civitas Institute’s overall mission to implement conservative policy solutions for the benefit of all North Carolinians.