Conservative group tries to block N.C. lottery in court

[Thom Little]

A conservative legal foundation wants a judge to prevent the North Carolina Education Lottery from doing any work while a lawsuit challenging the lottery's passage in the legislature is heard.

In a filing late Friday in Wake County Superior Court, Robert Orr with the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law filed a motion asking a judge to order the lottery commission to stop operating for now.

The proposed preliminary injunction also would keep state officials from loaning the commission up to $10 million for startup costs and bar the commission from entering into vendor or retailer contracts.

Two weeks ago, Orr sued several groups and two legislators, arguing the 61-59 state House vote approving the lottery was invalid because the bill wasn't considered on three separate days, as required by the state constitution. Allowing the lottery work to continue would cause "immediate and irreparable injury" to his clients and other citizens and taxpayers because the lottery law is a "constitutionally infirm statute," Orr wrote.


http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/383552.html

[musical_soul]

1. This is crazy.

I want to say "stupid bible belt" but every state around us has a lottery. There's got to be some way to get around these people. We need the money for our educational system.