Brooks Pierce Partner Bob King Quoted in The Daily Reflector

Brooks Pierce partner Bob King was quoted in an article by The Daily Reflector on Kozel v. City of Greenville, Pitt County Board of Education, a case recently dismissed by the Pitt County Superior Court. King and fellow Brooks Pierce attorneys Jill Wilson and Elizabeth Troutman represented the Pitt County Board of Education in the lawsuit.

In September 2017, a Greenville resident filed a lawsuit against the City of Greenville and Pitt County Schools arguing that the red light camera program in the city violated, among other things, the North Carolina Constitution, which requires that all “clear proceeds” from fines go to the school system.

The Court dismissed the plaintiff’s claims, ruling that the plaintiff did not have standing because he had not received a ticket from the program – and in fact did not even own a currently-registered vehicle.   

“You have to have skin in the game. That isn’t a technical matter, it is a question of the integrity and independence of the courts,” said King. “The courts are not here for the abstract, not here to provide an advisory [opinion]. You have to have a real controversy, and in order to have controversy, you have to have standing, you have to have something you might be able to lose.”

The city and school district believed that the claims were also subject to dismissal for several other grounds. However, those other arguments were not reached because the claims were dismissed due to lack of standing.