Title: Richardson v. State
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 384A14
State: north-carolina
Issuer: north-carolina Supreme Court
Date: July 23, 2015

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 ___.