Opinion
Judges see past Cooper’s rhetoric in appointments battle
A bipartisan three-judge panel upheld five of seven state board appointment structures the governor targeted in a lawsuit.
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
Judges reject injunction in Cooper v Berger appointments fight
A three-judge panel has denied Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for an injunction blocking recent actions from the state Environmental Management Commission. The panel made that unanimous decision Friday after a nearly three-hour hearing in a lawsuit pitting Cooper against Republican legislative leaders. The decision also dissolved a temporary restraining order against the EMC that had remained in effect for a month.
News
Appointments fight between Cooper, lawmakers returns to three-judge panel
A lawsuit pitting Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper against Republican legislative leaders over appointments to state boards and commissions is heading back to a three-judge panel. A single judge made that decision Thursday morning after a court hearing in Raleigh.
News
Cooper wins court ruling against environmental appointment changes
Lawyers for Gov. Roy Cooper returned to court Thursday afternoon to fight recent changes in appointments to North Carolina’s Environmental Management Commission. A Superior Court judge granted Cooper a temporary restraining order blocking the EMC's most recent actions.
News
Three-judge panel blocks part of new law in appointments fight between Cooper, lawmakers
A three-judge Superior Court panel has blocked part of a new state law that shifts some government board appointment powers from Gov. Roy Cooper to the Republican-controlled General Assembly or other executive officers. The judges granted a preliminary injunction against changes to appointments to the state Economic Investment Committee, Commission for Public Health, and Board of Transportation. Judges refused to block changes to the Environmental Management Commission and Coastal Resources Commission.
News
Legislative leaders urge Leandro judge to cut spending number to $377 million
State legislative leaders want the new judge in the Leandro lawsuit to cut the case’s outstanding education spending obligation to $377 million. That’s $300 million less than other parties in the case have recommended.
News
Controller, legislative leaders ask NC Supreme Court to block Leandro money transfer
State legislative leaders and the state controller are asking the N.C. Supreme Court to block a forced money transfer tied to the long-running Leandro education funding case. In separate motions filed Wednesday, Controller Nels Roseland and top lawmakers asked the high court to restore a previous order from the N.C. Court of Appeals.
News
State Supreme Court peppers lawyers with questions about $785 million Leandro spending order
The N.C. Supreme Court will decide in the days ahead whether a judge can order the state to spend an additional $785 million for education-related items. Justices also will decide whether the courts can bypass the General Assembly and order the money transferred out of the state treasury. Those are the key questions in the latest stage of the long-running Leandro school funding case. The case that dates back to 1994 returned to the state’s highest court Wednesday for oral arguments.
News
Legislative leaders ask N.C. Supreme Court to drop one set of Leandro plaintiffs
N.C. legislative leaders are asking the N.C. Supreme Court to remove a group of plaintiffs from the latest stage of the long-running Leandro school funding lawsuit. The request arrived at the court in a motion filed Tuesday. It would apply to a group labeled Plaintiff-Intervenors or the Penn-Intervenors.
News
Legislative leaders, Leandro plaintiffs clash over court-ordered N.C. education spending
Less than a month before the N.C. Supreme Court takes its latest look at the long-running Leandro school funding lawsuit, state legislative leaders and Leandro plaintiffs are unveiling their competing arguments. Those arguments arrive in new briefs filed Monday with the state's highest court.
News
Legislative leaders challenge Leandro plaintiffs’ request for Berger recusal
Legislative leaders have fired the latest salvo in the legal battle over N.C. Supreme Court justices’ participation in the latest stage of the Leandro school-funding lawsuit. A court filing Thursday from legislative attorneys questions Leandro plaintiffs’ request that Justice Phil Berger Jr. recuse himself from the case. Plaintiffs requested recusal from Berger, a Republican, on...
