Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Lawsuit Over Easley Ads

The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a Republican consultant over public service announcements featuring Democrat Mike Easley.

While attorney general, Easley – now governor – used money received from court settlements involving his office to finance TV and radio ads publicizing a new state law against predatory lending practices. Other ads cautioned people to watch for unlawful telemarketers. The last series of ads, which featured Easley prominently, ran in the fall of 1999.

Chuck Fuller with Citizens for a Sound Economy sued Easley and State Treasurer Harlan Boyles, asking a judge to block the ads from airing and order Easley to reimburse the state for the commercials’ cost. He said the ads violated the state Constitution and election laws.

GOP gubernatorial candidates said the PSAs were thinly veiled political ads for Easley, who announced he was running for governor in early 2000. Republicans fought with the AG’s office during the campaign, trying to collect public records related to the $1 million in ads. Easley’s office defended the ads as a proper use of settlement funds.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Stafford Bullock dismissed Fuller’s lawsuit in May 2000.

In a unanimous opinion, the three-judge panel declined to revive the lawsuit, ruling that Fuller didn’t have standing to sue and didn’t make a claim for which relief could be granted.

“The governor never had any doubt that educating consumers about how to protect themselves from fraud and scam artists was the right thing to do,” said Cari Hepp, a spokeswoman for Easley. “We are pleased that the court unanimously acknowledged this fact.”

Money from consent judgments or agreements from legal actions by the attorney general’s office are placed in a special department fund. Fuller said the constitution required the settlement money to be forwarded to county school boards.

He also said the courts needed to clarify a 1997 law barring elected state officials from using PSAs during an election year. The appeals court said the law only barred PSAs from being run in the same year that Council of State races were on the ballot, which was not the case in 1999.

“Given that the meaning of (the law) is plain and clear, we conclude there was no actual controversy between the parties concerning the meaning,” Judge Patricia Timmons-Goodson wrote in the opinion, which was joined by Judges Hugh Campbell and Joseph John. All three are Democrats.

A spokesman for Attorney General Roy Cooper said his office had no response Tuesday evening. An attorney for Fuller did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment.