North Carolina's lottery legal

North Carolina's lottery legal

Court: North Carolina's lottery legal
Groups that brought lawsuit say they will appeal to higher court


The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that state legislators lawfully approved the bill that created North Carolina’s lottery, but the court’s split decision means that the issue probably will end up at the state’s highest court.

Two of the panel’s three judges rejected arguments from taxpayers and others who sued the state and elected officials, arguing that illegal methods were used by House and Senate leaders to approve the lottery legislation in 2005. The third judge sided with the plaintiffs.

The divided court allows the plaintiffs to request an automatic appeal to the N.C. Supreme Court, and their attorney indicated yesterday that a request will be made.

We live to fight another day, said Bob Orr, a Republican candidate for governor and former Supreme Court justice who is representing taxpayers and two conservative groups in the lawsuit. Liberal groups also were among the plaintiffs.

The N.C. Lottery began selling tickets in March 2006 and has generated more than $500 million for state education programs and school construction from a portion of ticket revenues.

The plaintiffs argued that each chamber should have voted twice on separate days as required by the state constitution for bills that generate money for the state. Instead, the House and Senate voted once and narrowly approved the lottery.

The lottery legislation didn’t fall under those constitutional rules partly because playing the lottery isn’t required by state law, unlike paying state taxes, Judge Jim Wynn wrote in the majority opinion. Judge Bob Hunter concurred.

The state constitution dictates that the House and Senate must have two votes on separate days to approve bills that impose a tax, raise money on the state’s credit or pledge the state to repay any debt.

Hunter and Wynn agreed that none of those three elements applied to the lottery bill. Unlike the compulsory nature of a tax, a toll and participation in the lottery are activities freely undertaken by citizens of their own volition, Wynn wrote.

Also, lottery players are not guaranteed to receive payment, such as what a bond provides. The North Carolina State Lottery Commission, not the state itself, is responsible for paying any prizes, Wynn said.

In her dissent, Judge Ann Marie Calabria wrote that the lottery legislation didn’t contain language preventing itself from having to use state money to pay off debts incurred by the lottery. The General Assembly didn’t approve the legislation legally because the lottery generates revenue for a state education fund, she said.



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