Taxes and the North Carolina Constitution April 23, 2009

Hosted by: John Locke Foundation

On October 25, 1774, in Edenton, N.C, a tax revolt known as the Edenton Tea Party marked the first organized political activity by women in what became the United States. In 1776, James Iredell, an Edenton resident and later a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, penned arguments denouncing British encroachment on individual liberty. What better place is there than the Historic Edenton Courthouse to remember our constitutional roots?

To ensure state constitutional literacy in North Carolina, the John Locke Foundation's N.C. History Project, in cooperation with the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law, has started a new educational series called The State of Our Constitution. This series will explore the history, enforcement and interpretation of our state's governing principles, and examine why the state constitution is important to North Carolinians.

Please join us at the Historic Edenton Courthouse for a symposium on the issue of taxation. John Locke Foundation President John Hood will serve as moderator, as an expert panel compares the N.C. Constitution with other state constitutions provisions dealing with taxation issues and discusses how the legal and practical applications of the NC Constitution influences how Tar Heels pay taxes and how their money is used.

Too few North Carolinians know why constitutions and the state constitution are so important. "We're committed to helping people understand they have rights and liberties protected by the North Carolina Constitution," says North Carolina History Project Director Troy Kickler. "By failing to understand and respect constitutional principles, it becomes easier and easier to disregard the document's meaning, and we see the results all too often today as law becomes ambulatory and uprooted from its constitutional roots."

Panelists include Gene Boyce, who has represented North Carolinians since 1989 in legal fights against the state and has recovered over $1.5 billion in settlements for taxpayers; Dr. Jeff Broadwater, Barton College historian and political biographer of George Mason and James Madison, and Dr. John Dinan, a Wake Forest University political scientist and constitutional scholar.

This event is free and open to the public. Please register for this event by calling 1-866-JLF-INFO, or go to www.johnlocke.org/events.

Official Website: http://www.johnlocke.org/events/event.html?id=666