We granted discretionary review of a unanimous Court of Appeals decision which (1) upheld the trial court’s dismissal of due process and equal protection claims arising out of the termination of a police officer but (2) reversed the dismissal of ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

As they are ordinarily understood, the terms used in South Carolina’s disorderly conduct statute – “disorderly,” “boisterous,” “obscene,” and “profane” – make it hard to escape the conclusion that any person passing a schoolyard during recess is likely witnessing a ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

To the extent several subsections of North Carolina’s Property Protection Act punish newsgathering activities, those subsections violate the First Amendment. We affirm the district court’s determination that the subsections or the Property Protection Act (the Act) violate plaintiffs’ constitutional rights ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A majority in the North Carolina House agreed on Wednesday to call for a meeting to propose changes to the U.S. Constitution, saying the time is now to consider alterations to the federal government’s powers and ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

Plaintiff has sufficiently alleged a town policy that violates his right to free speech: a ban on livestreaming a traffic stop by police. At the motion-to-dismiss stage, the town has not shown that the alleged policy is sufficiently grounded in ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

A North Carolina statute, G.S. § 163-274(a)(9) (the Act), may be unconstitutional because it outlaws any derogatory comment “made in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity.” Such a comment may be true, and the First Amendment does not permit ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

Starting in late March 2020, Dare County, North Carolina, prohibited non-resident property owners from entering the county. Although the Virginia plaintiffs were unable to reside in their property for 45 days because of the lockdown, Dare County did not “take” ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

The plaintiff-students have stated claims for breach of contract, based on the defendant-university system’s transition to online-only learning during the spring semester of 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, defendant is entitled to immunity under G.S. § 116-311, ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

This year’s judicial elections have reminded me of a story that former Wake County District Court Judge James Fullwood likes to tell about his re-election campaign in 1994, a year where Republicans won basically everything there was to win. Judicial ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

The General Assembly has exempted workers’ compensation claimants’ medical records from disclosure under the Public Records Act. Plaintiff has not identified any statutory or constitutional right to the privacy of any award that the Industrial Commission might make in this ...

Tagged with: Constitutional