Welcome to Bob Orr 101: The Constitution and the Governor's Race 2008. Please have a seat.

Today, we'll be discussing Article V, Section 2(7), of the state Constitution, which says the state may appropriate money to a business only for "public purposes."

In Maready v. Winston Salem in 1996, the Supreme Court found in a 5-2 vote that cash and tax breaks given to 24 companies in Forsyth County met that test because they created jobs and helped the tax base grow.

Orr, then a Supreme Court justice, disagreed, saying the incentives were "corporate welfare."

"If a potential corporate entity is considering a move to Winston-Salem but will only come if country club memberships are provided for its executives, do we sanction the use of tax revenue to facilitate the move?" he wrote.

According to Orr, the recruitment of corporations through incentives only provided minimal job and tax base growth and hurt small communities that can't compete.

He also said the expenditures failed "the ultimate test for determining public purpose" by benefiting special interests as opposed to the public in general.

The state Court of Appeals threw out Bob Orr's lawsuit on Dell.

The former Supreme Court justice and Republican gubernatorial candidate had filed a lawsuit on behalf of taxpayers arguing that incentives used to lure the computer maker were unconstitutional.

But a three-judge panel led by Judge Martha Geer wrote that the constitutionality issue was settled by Maready v. City of Winston-Salem in 1996. She wrote that the incentives issue is now up to the legislature and the governor.

Orr said he was confident that the N.C. Institute on Constitutional Law, which he formerly headed, would appeal the case to the state Supreme Court. 

"There's no point in stopping now," he said.