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Author:  Ralph W. Kasarda Under the guise of its Minority Business Enterprise and Woman Business Enterprise Program (MWBE Program), North Carolina has operated a discriminatory public contracting program since 1989.  Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in H.B. Rowe v. Tippett, held that most of the MWBE Program is unconstitu ...

Texas isn’t the only state  that has been attempting to convert private beachfront land into public property through the use of novel legal theories. North Carolina and its political subdivisions have also moved in the same, unfortunate direction.  And once again, PLF is going to court on behalf of owners of beachfront property to try R ...

PLF continues to make headway in its twin goals of protecting property rights on the beach and in opening the federal courthouse doors to property owners seeking to defend their constitutionally protected property rights. The latest example of this reality is a new victory in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in (another) case pitting … ...

If you have ever walked along North Carolina’s ocean beaches or even seen photos, you will notice that there are many beach cottages on, or immediately adjacent to, the dry sand areas of the beach. This is because the dry sand beach area is privately owned land in North Carolina, as it is in most coastal … ...

A court’s ruling this week that North Carolina’s school voucher program is unconstitutional is unfortunate, given that the most likely beneficiaries of the program are disadvantaged minority students.  The program aims to provide as much as $4,200 annually for low-income families trying to get their children out of failing public scho ...

Several years ago, Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) become involved as lead counsel in two important beach property disputes out of North Carolina, as discussed further here.  The cases are Town of Nags Head v. Toloczko and Sansotta v. Town of Nags Head.  In both cases, the Town denied repairs for private beach cottages, and tried to remove the ...

With the new year comes new hopes and new opportunities. Perhaps nowhere is that more true than in North Carolina, where the Legislature recently enacted a new school choice program for low-income students. The Opportunity Scholarship Program allows low-income children to attend private schools of their parents’ choice through state-funded sc ...

Lawyers love to talk to other lawyers about the law. Non-lawyers are usually more interested in how the law will affect them. Here at Liberty Blog, I’ve discussed the legal arguments in two important school choice cases before the North Carolina Supreme Court. PLF filed a brief in support of school choice in those cases: Hart … ...

Today the North Carolina Supreme Court heard argument in two cases that are of vital interest to approximately 1,800 of the state’s school children. The lawsuits target the school voucher program that has given these low-income kids new hope by allowing them to enroll in private schools.  PLF attorneys filed an amicus brief, with assistanc ...