News-Record.com

Judge Howard Manning's declaration that the state must pay nearly $750 million in unlawfully withheld civil penalties made big headlines.

But tucked near the back of his order is this interesting paragraph:

"The Court recognizes that although the defendants are the parties who must be ordered to pay into the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund the moneys that should have been paid to the public schools but were improperly retained by the agencies for their own use, ultimately it is the General Assembly that will decide whether to appropriate sufficient funds to those agencies to allow them to make the required payments without disrupting their ongoing operations. The Court also recognizes that the General Assembly has final responsibility for state appropriations to the public schools and can use that power to determine the net benefit the schools derive from this judgment."

Note the key words: net benefit.

This means the General Assembly can provide the $750 million the various state agencies owe ...

... and deduct the same amount from appropriations for public schools ...

... leaving no net benefit at all.

That would be the best deal for taxpayers, of course.

But it would let off the hook the Hunt and Easley administrations, and legislative leaders, who for nearly a decade failed to turn over to schools the money due them, according to state law and the N.C. constitution.

Manning flatly admitted the courts have no constitutional authority to appropriate funds from the state treasury. He's powerless to provide a net benefit for the schools, even if they're legally entitled.

That's actually a good thing. We shouldn't want judges raising our taxes.

Still, I feel there could be a miscarriage of justice here.

Maybe if Manning were to write a few contempt of court citations ...

I mean, if this were a criminal case about keeping money that belonged to someone else, people would be going to jail.