Opinion
Justices highlight flaws in common Leandro lawsuit narrative
Two of the state Supreme Court's newest members offer a new approach toward a 30-year-old education funding case.
Opinion
State Supreme Court recusal debate highlights timeless lesson
Had Democrats succeeded with a 2021 plan to rewrite state Supreme Court recusal rules, Justice Anita Earls might have been disqualified from the recent Leandro hearing.
Video
Carolina Journal’s Donna King analyzes the Leandro case and NC school funding
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses North Carolina’s Leandro education funding lawsuit and reforming the state’s system of paying for students’ education needs. King offered these comments during the Feb. 23, 2024, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
News
State’s highest court wrestles again with Leandro education funding issues
The North Carolina Supreme Court could decide in the coming months whether to strike the most recent decisions about court-ordered education funding in the 30-year legal battle commonly known as Leandro. All seven justices spent 80 minutes Thursday morning listening to and questioning lawyers who defended and opposed an April 2023 trial court order calling for $677 million in additional state funding.
News
State Supreme Court splits, 4-2, on Berger’s participation in Leandro case
The state Supreme Court split, 4-2, Friday on allowing Justice Phil Berger Jr. to take part in next week’s hearing in the 30-year-long education funding dispute commonly known as Leandro. That means all seven justices will take part in oral arguments on Feb. 22.
News
Lawyers seek extended state Supreme Court argument time for Leandro
Lawyers preparing for the state Supreme Court’s latest consideration of a 30-year-long education funding case want to spend more time before the court’s justices. A motion filed Friday at the state’s highest court asks justices to extend oral argument time from 60 minutes to 90 minutes.
News
Lawmakers emphasize case against judge’s $677 million Leandro spending order
Two weeks before the state Supreme Court hears oral arguments again in the 30-year-old education funding dispute commonly known as Leandro, state legislative leaders restated an argument that could throw out court orders in the case dating back to 2018. The state’s highest court takes up the case again on Feb. 22.
News
Berger submits Leandro recusal request to full Supreme Court
State Supreme Court Justice Phil Berger Jr. is submitting a recusal request in the education funding case known as Leandro to the full court. In an order issued Monday, Berger declined to act on the matter himself, “erring on the side of prudence.” The state's highest court will hear oral arguments in the case on Feb. 22.
News
Earls rejects recusal request in Leandro education funding case
State Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls will not recuse herself from the court’s upcoming hearing in the long-running education funding case commonly known as Leandro. Earls, a Democrat, signed a 13-page order Wednesday rejecting Republican legislative leaders’ request that she step away from the case.
News
Law professors jump into Leandro case to oppose legislators’ arguments
A group of 20 law professors is asking the state’s highest court to uphold previous court orders that could force the state to spend hundreds of millions of additional taxpayer dollars on education. The group filed a motion Wednesday to submit a friend-of-the-court brief in a 30-year-old lawsuit commonly referred to as Leandro.
News
Plaintiffs, state government lawyers reject legislators’ Leandro arguments
Five local school systems and lawyers representing state government’s executive branch reject legal arguments from North Carolina’s legislative leaders in a 30-year-old court battle over education funding. Four court filings Wednesday at the state Supreme Court took aim at state lawmakers’ arguments in the case commonly referred to as Leandro.
News
Leandro school funding dispute returns to state Supreme Court in February
The North Carolina Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Feb. 22 in the latest round of a nearly 30-year-old education funding lawsuit. It’s commonly known as Leandro. The court voted 5-2 in October to take another look at the case, officially known as Hoke County Board of Education v. State. Justices will decide whether a trial court had “subject matter jurisdiction” to order hundreds of millions of dollars in new education spending.
