CLAIM OF UNCONSTITUTIONALITY; THREE-JUDGE COURTS

48 (a) Notification. If at any time prior to the trial of an action to which (1) neither the United States nor any of its officers, agencies, or employees is a party and a party draws in question the constitutionality of an act of Congress affecting the public interest, or (2) neither the state nor any of its agencies, officers, or employees is a party and a party draws in question the constitutionality of any statute of that state affecting the public interest, that party, to enable the Court to comply with 28 U.S.C. §§ 2403, shall notify the Court. The notice shall be in writing, stating the title of the action, the statute in question, and the respects in which it is claimed the statute is unconstitutional, and a copy shall be served upon the Attorney General of the United States and the United States Attorney in this district or the North Carolina Attorney General, as applicable. (b) Additional Copies.

In any action or proceeding required by act of Congress to be heard and determined by a district court of three judges, all pleadings, papers, and documents filed subsequent to the designation of the Court, as provided in 28 U.S.C. §§ 2284(a), shall be filed in triplicate, original and two copies, with the clerk. The clerk shall make timely distribution of these documents to the designated judges.