IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA

No. 384A14

Filed 23 July 2015

REVEREND ROBERT RICHARDSON, III, REVEREND MICHAEL and 

DELORES GALLOWAY, STEVEN W. SIZEMORE, THE NORTH CAROLINA 

SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION, ALAMANCE-BURLINGTON BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, ASHEBORO CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, CATAWBA 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO CITY BOARD 

OF EDUCATION, CHATHAM COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, CLEVELAND 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, COLUMBUS COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, CRAVEN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, CURRITUCK 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, DAVIDSON COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, DURHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS BOARD OF EDUCATION,

EDENTON-CHOWAN BOARD OF EDUCATION, GATES COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, GRAHAM COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, HALIFAX 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, HARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, HYDE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, LEE COUNTY 

BOARD OF EDUCATION, LENOIR COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, 

LEXINGTON CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, MACON COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, MARTIN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, MOUNT AIRY CITY 

BOARD OF EDUCATION, NEWTON-CONOVER CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, 

ONSLOW COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, PAMLICO COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, PERSON 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, PITT COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, 

POLK COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, ROCKINGHAM COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, RUTHERFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, SCOTLAND 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, STANLEY COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, SURRY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, VANCE COUNTY 

BOARD OF EDUCATION, WARREN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, 

WASHINGTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, WHITEVILLE CITY 

BOARD OF EDUCATION, YANCEY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, 

ALEXANDER COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, ASHEVILLE CITY BOARD 

OF EDUCATION, AVERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, BERTIE 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, BLADEN COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, CAMDEN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, CASWELL 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, CHEROKEE COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, CLINTON CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, CUMBERLAND 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, EDGECOMBE COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, ELIZABETH CITY-PASQUOTANK BOARD OF EDUCATION,

FRANKLIN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, GRANVILLE COUNTY BOARD 

OF EDUCATION, GUILFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, HAYWOOD 
RICHARDSON V. STATE

Opinion of the Court

-2-

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, HERTFORD COUNTY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, HICKORY CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION, HOKE COUNTY 

BOARD OF EDUCATION, JACKSON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION,

JONES COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, KANNAPOLIS CITY BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, MOORE 

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, MOORESVILLE GRADED SCHOOL 

DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION, NASH-ROCKY MOUNT BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, NORTHAMPTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, BOARD 

OF TRUSTEES FOR ROANOKE RAPIDS GRADED SCHOOL DISTRICT,

SAMPSON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, THOMASVILLE CITY BOARD 

OF EDUCATION, and TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION,

Plaintiffs

v.

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF 

EDUCATION, and NORTH CAROLINA STATE EDUCATION ASSISTANCE 

AUTHORITY, 

Defendants,

 and

CYNTHIA PERRY, GENNELL CURRY, TIM MOORE, and PHIL BERGER, 

Intervenor-Defendants

Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(b)(1) from an order and final judgment 

granting summary judgment and injunctive relief for plaintiffs entered on 28 August 

2014 by Judge Robert H. Hobgood in Superior Court, Wake County. On 14 October

2014, pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-31(a) and (b)(2), and Rule 15(e)(2) of the North 

Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Supreme Court on its own initiative 

certified the case for review prior to determination in the Court of Appeals. Heard in 

the Supreme Court on 24 February 2015.

Poyner Spruill LLP, by Edwin M. Speas, Jr. and Carrie V. McMillan; and 

Tharrington Smith, LLP, by Deborah R. Stagner and Kenneth A. Soo, for 
RICHARDSON V. STATE

Opinion of the Court

-3-

individual and school board plaintiff-appellees;

1 and Robert F. Orr for 

plaintiff-appellee North Carolina School Boards Association.

Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by Lauren M. Clemmons, Special Deputy 

Attorney General, for defendant-appellants.

Institute for Justice, by Richard D. Komer, pro hac vice, Robert Gall, and Renée 

Flaherty, pro hac vice; and Shanahan Law Group, PLLC, by John E. Branch, 

III, for parent intervenor-defendant-appellants Cynthia Perry and Gennell 

Curry.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, by Noah H. Huffstetler III and 

Stephen D. Martin, for legislative officer intervenor-defendant-appellants Tim 

Moore and Phil Berger.

Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, L.L.P., by Daniel F.E. Smith, 

Jill R. Wilson, and Robert J. King III; and AdvancED, by Kenneth Bergman, 

for Advance Education, Inc., amicus curiae.

American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation, by 

Christopher Brook, for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 

American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union of North 

Carolina Legal Foundation, Anti-Defamation League, Baptist Joint Committee 

for Religious Liberty, and Interfaith Alliance Foundation, amici curiae.

Williamson, Dean, Williamson & Sojka, L.L.P., by Nickolas J. Sojka, Jr.; and 

Michael A. Rebell, pro hac vice, for Campaign for Educational Equity, Teachers 

College, Columbia University, amicus curiae.

Liberty, Life, and Law Foundation, by Deborah J. Dewart; Thomas C. Berg, pro 

hac vice, University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota); and Christian 

Legal Society, by Kimberlee Wood Colby, pro hac vice, for Christian Legal 

Society; North Carolina Christian School Association; Roman Catholic Diocese 

of Charlotte, North Carolina; Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, North 

Carolina; North Carolina Family Policy Council; Liberty, Life, and Law 

Foundation; Association of Christian Schools International; American 

 

1

 Attorneys Speas and McMillan are counsel for all plaintiff-appellees except 

Chatham County Board of Education, Nash-Rocky Mount Board of Education, 

Board of Trustees for Roanoke Rapids Graded School District, and Granville County 

Board of Education. Attorneys Stagner and Soo represent these four entities.
RICHARDSON V. STATE

Opinion of the Court

-4-

Association of Christian Schools; and National Association of Evangelicals, 

amici curiae.

Campbell Shatley, PLLC, by Chad R. Donnahoo; and National School Boards 

Association, by Francisco M. Negrón, Jr., pro hac vice, for National School 

Boards Association, amicus curiae.

Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., by Richard A. Vinroot and Matthew F. 

Tilley, for Pacific Legal Foundation, amicus curiae.

PER CURIAM.

For the reasons stated in Hart v. State, ___ N.C. ___, ___, ___ S.E.2d ___, ___ 

(2015) (372A14), the decision of the trial court is reversed.

REVERSED. 

Justice HUDSON, Justice BEASLEY, and Justice ERVIN dissent for the 

reasons stated in Justice Hudson’s dissenting opinion in Hart v. State, ___ N.C. ___, 

___, ___ S.E.2d ___, ___ (2015) (372A14). Justice BEASLEY also dissents for the 

reasons stated in her dissenting opinion in Hart v. State, id. at ___, ___ S.E.2d at ___.