| Copy of letter to the News Argus
Judge Calabria asked for this letter to be printed (see below). The News Argus declined to print it. |
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Ann Marie Calabria
August 10, 2006
Ms. Renee Carey, Editor Dear Ms. Carey: Your August 4th edition contained a news story entitled “Annexation group loses first appeal” regarding a North Carolina Court of Appeals decision. I recognize the difficulty of summarizing a court ruling in a few sentences and feel compelled to supply a clarification to ensure that interested and affected Wayne County residents clearly understand the limited, procedural nature of the Court of Appeals decision. In Burnette v. City of Goldsboro, I concurred with two other North Carolina Court of Appeals judges in deciding a group of citizens who challenged an involuntary annexation had no “standing” to challenge the action. “Standing” means a person has a sufficient stake in a matter to seek a judicial determination. Our General Assembly sometimes creates statutes that specify which citizens have standing to sue and it has done so for annexation cases. The General Assembly determined that only citizens owning property in the annexed territory may seek court review of annexation proceedings. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-50(a) (2005). In the Goldsboro annexation case, the citizens who challenged the annexation were not owners of property in the Lane Farms/Howell Properties area. Under the statute, therefore, these particular citizens had no standing to challenge that annexation. Our holding said nothing about the validity of the Lane Farms/Howell Properties annexation. It is the role of the courts merely to apply the law as written, not to create law. Since our legislature specifically limited annexation challenges to citizens owning land in the annexed territory, we were without authority to consider the substance of the opponents’ concerns. As a strong defender of individual liberty and private property rights, I will endeavor to preserve those rights in accordance with the law whenever such issues are before me. Very Truly Yours, AMC Ann Marie Calabria North Carolina Court of Appeals [The author is a candidate for the North Carolina Supreme Court in the November 7th General Election.]
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Email from Judge Calabria's office:
Please find attached a letter to the editor that Court of Appeals Judge Ann Marie Calabria sent to the Goldsboro News-Argus on August 10th. The letter responded to an erroneous report on the Burnette v. City of Goldsboro case in the paper’s August 4th edition. I spoke with News-Argus editor Renee Carey on August 10th and explained that the paper had a responsibility to print Judge Calabria’s response. Editor Carey stated that the News-Argus does not ordinarily print letters from government officials and I don’t believe the News-Argus ever printed Judge Calabria’s letter. I am attaching it here because I believe your members and other interested voters have a right to see what the judge wrote to correct any misimpressions regarding this matter.
Judge Calabria is a candidate for the North Carolina Supreme Court and hopes to gain the support of your members and all voters who love liberty and support the rule of law. I am attaching a brief outline of Judge Calabria’s experience and philosophy for your consideration as well as a speech Judge Calabria gave earlier this year addressing, among other things, private property rights. For more information on Judge Calabria’s positions, please visit her website at www.judgecalabria.com. Early voting is already underway so vote for Judge Ann Marie Calabria today or remember to do so on November 7th!
Please let me know that you have received this and tell me how I can be of further assistance. Thank you for your interest in this important election.
Best regards,
Mark