A unanimous three-judge panel has ruled this morning that plaintiffs working with the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law have no standing to pursue a lawsuit challenging targeted tax breaks offered to Google. You might recognize some of the plaintiff’s names. They include 2008 Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Michael Munger and Libertarian party chair Barbara Howe.
Judge Sam Ervin IV writes:
The present appeal stems from another in a series of challenges to economic incentive legislation enacted by the General Assembly as violative of various provisions of the North Carolina Constitution. After careful consideration of the record in light of the applicable law, we conclude that Plaintiffs lack standing to assert the only claims that have been brought forward for our consideration on appeal and that the trial court correctly dismissed those claims.
9:45 a.m. update: If you’ve forgotten the basis for the lawsuit, you might want to watch this July 2007 news conference.