Critics of Leandro ruling hope new GOP majority on NC Supreme Court will reconsider money directed to public schools

In January 2023, Republicans Trey Allen and Richard Dietz are set to join the state’s highest court. On Tuesday, Allen defeated Democratic incumbent state Supreme Court Associate Justice Sam Ervin IV, and Dietz defeated Democratic Appeals Court Judge Lucy Inman.

House Speaker Tim Moore, a Republican, called the ruling ridiculous.

“To think that they can appropriate that, I think we're unified in a message that that's not something this General Assembly supports at all,” Moore said. “And [it’s] something that we're going to revisit.

“I feel confident on that on a number of fronts.”

Years ago, Rick Glazier was an attorney on the Leandro case. He said there’s no precedent to overturn it.

“It cannot be that the Constitution lives or dies based on a change of election, or it would render, effectively, any decisions of the court temporary, and that's not what can happen here or what should happen here,” Glazier said.

Raleigh-based Parker Poe partner and lawyer Melanie Black Dubis echoed Glazier's sentiments.

"There is no procedural mechanism by which a newly-constituted Supreme Court could revisit and overturn the issues that have already been decided," she wrote in an email to WRAL News. "If the court attempts to overturn the ruling based on the election results, it will lose any semblance of independence and integrity it [ever] had."

However, an attorney for Senate Leader Phil Berger, Brent Woodcox, predicted on Twitter that the ruling would be overturned next year by the Supreme Court’s new Republican majority.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said his office stands ready to follow the court order.

“I think we have a case ruling in place,” Cooper said. “It would be hard to fathom the court overturning precedent as quickly as that.”

Moore said lawmakers might subtract any money the court transfers to agencies from those agencies’ budgets next year.

“Maybe they get a credit or an offset against what they've already gotten by the court,” Moore said. “I don't know. There [are] a lot of options.”

Cooper questioned whether Republicans wanted to cut off funding for better public schools. Cooper said with billions in reserves, the state has the money to pay for the order.

“What better investment can we make then to ensure that our children get a sound, basic education?” Cooper said. “And, it seems like they're trying to diabolically find a way not to do that.”