North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Where media entities sought to unseal the existing district court docket and filings as well as any future proceedings, and to vacate the nondisclosure order blocking their state public records requests, the appeal was dismissed because the district court effectively ...

Where defendants challenged their sentence for conspiracy to distribute and possess ice-level purity methamphetamine, it was not clearly erroneous for the district court to rely on testing results and circumstantial and direct evidence to conclude the conspiracy was centered on ...

In an issue of first impression that has divided other circuits, the court held that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act does not give private plaintiffs a right to sue for injunctive relief. Background The named plaintiffs ...

Where a prison guard was beaten to death by an inmate, her father’s suit failed to plead facts showing how individuals who managed the prison or worked there created or enhanced the danger that resulted in her death. Background Sergeant ...

The text, structure and the legal landscape in which the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, or ADEA, was passed law do not support a finding that the statute’s federal-sector provision encompasses disparate-impact liability. Background Dr. Jane DiCocco brought Title VII ...

Where a panel of the circuit court previously held that the district court applied the wrong standard when it vacated the defendant’s death sentence for the murder of a police officer, but the case was then heard by an en ...

Where the record showed the public defender failed to communicate to the defendant a plea offer of 20 years’ incarceration, there was no prejudice because there was also support for findings that the defendant was unwilling to accept a substantial ...

Where the defendant was previously charged in state court with capital murder of a police officer after a traffic stop, a later federal prosecution for possession of a firearm by a felon was not barred by Double Jeopardy. An offense ...

Where the defendant, who appeared to be sleeping or unconscious in a running car that was positioned erratically in a school parking lot, began driving away when the police arrived, there was reasonable suspicion search his vehicle. Background A federal ...

Although the defendants argued a student’s use of a Jane Doe pseudonym without court permission was a jurisdictional defect, that argument failed because her complaint alleging she was harmed by the school’s failure to end the sexual harassment and abuse ...