CLF Files Suit Against Attorney General Roy Cooper | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's note: This post, by Demi Dowdy, was originally published in the ARTICLE SECTION section(s) of Civitas's online edition.

    RALEIGH     The Civitas Center for Law and Freedom (CLF) today has filed suit against Roy Cooper in his capacity as North Carolina Attorney General alleging that he illegally funneled settlement money to special interest groups.

    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."

    Attorney General Cooper has clearly violated the North Carolina Constitution and legal precedent set by the State Supreme Court as detailed in our complaint filed today by Paul Stam on behalf of CLF.

    Civitas President Francis De Luca said, "It is the job of the Attorney General to facilitate justice in our state, not undermine it. By handing over funds to special interests, funds which he is legally required to allocate to public education in our state, Roy Cooper has not just short-changed our education system, he has directly violated the North Carolina constitution."

    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.