Hotly debated before its enactment and challenged in lawsuits since, North Carolina’s new photo identification requirement for voting goes into effect in 2016. Is it a genuine bulwark against fraud, providing confidence in elections, or is it a partisan attempt … Read more

Many commentators saw the United States Supreme Court’s June decision in Shelby County, Ala., v. Holder, ___ US ___, 133 SCt 2612, eliminating the preclearance requirement of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, as a significant setback for African … Read more

[Update: On October 23, 2013, the North Carolina Division of Public Health issued a position statement on the change to the definition of “private club” in the food and lodging laws. The statement specifies that an establishment must have a … Read more

An obligation that many North Carolina counties, school boards and cities have worked under since the mid-1960s ended yesterday. You have probably already read about the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, the challenge to … Read more

Last summer, the General Assembly adopted legislation that allows North Carolina counties to make significant changes to how local health and human services are organized and governed. In April, my colleague Aimee Wall wrote a blog post describing the three … Read more

Smoking has been prohibited in most North Carolina restaurants and bars for three years now, since January 2010. The legislation that imposed the smoking ban (S.L. 2009-27) included an exemption for non-profit private clubs—an exemption that began provoking questions before … Read more

UPDATE FEBRUARY 2013: The accreditation rules were amended to change the method by which the Accreditation Board determines whether a department has satisfied the required benchmarks. See 10A N.C.A.C. 48B .0103. This change had been proposed when this post was originally … Read more

Last summer, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security announced a new program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Under this program, some unauthorized immigrants who entered the United States before the age of 16 may qualify to have immigration … Read more

UPDATE: I wrote a more detailed manuscript about this issue for the February 2013 county attorneys’ winter conference. It is available here. Later that same month, a NC Attorney General advisory letter addressed this issue and reached conclusions similar to … Read more

Every now and then a city or county wants to serve beer and wine, or maybe even mixed drinks, at an official event. It might be a retirement party in the council chambers or perhaps a reception for a new … Read more