News

Campus free-speech bill passes House largely along partisan lines

House members on April 26 passed House Bill 527, Restore/Preserve Campus Free Speech, but not without some partisan sparring over the necessity of the legislation. H.B. 527 has been subject to debate since its first committee hearing this month. The bill is designed to maintain freedoms and bolster speech protections across the UNC system. Among...

Kari Travis
News

UPDATE: Cooper signs bill providing class-size flexibility

UPDATE, April 27, 6:45 p.m. Gov. Roy Cooper signed H.B. 13 into law. UPDATE, April 27. 4:25 p.m: The House agreed with the revised Senate version of the bill Thursday afternoon, passing it by a 112-3 margin.  After weeks of outrage from school administrators who worry that lower class sizes will mean cutting elective courses...

Kari Travis
News

House passes modest changes in craft brewery rules

The House voted 95-25 Wednesday night to loosen, very slightly, some of the state’s regulations governing craft breweries. House Bill 500, which now goes to the Senate, would place into law a number of provisions that previously had been allowed by rules crafted by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control board or other entities. They include:...

Rick Henderson
News

UPDATE: Legislature overrides Cooper veto, shrinks Court of Appeals from 15 judges to 12

UPDATE: The Senate also voted to override Cooper’s veto. The vote, taken Wednesday night, was 34-15. House Bill 239 will become law, pending any legal challenge by the governor. By a 73-44 vote, the state House rejected Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of House Bill 239, a measure reducing the number of judges on the North Carolina...

CJ Staff
News

House passes right-to-work constitutional amendment

State Rep. Justin Burr, R-Stanly, characterized North Carolinians’ right to work as a freedom so cherished that it was vital to strengthen it from a state law to inclusion in the state constitution. By a 75-44 vote Tuesday night, House Bill 819 passed on a party line vote, with the exception of Rep. William Brisson,...

Dan Way

Opinion

Elections

News

Trump nominates Bishop to be deputy director for budget at OMB

"Dan has been a tireless fighter for our MAGA Movement in the House of Representatives on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees," Trump said in a press release issued Tuesday night. "Dan will implement my cost-cutting and deregulatory agenda across all Agencies, and root out the Weaponized Deep State."

Theresa Opeka
News

Democrats want federal court to address GOP challenge of 60,000 NC ballots

The North Carolina Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday to ensure challenges of 60,000 ballots in the state's latest election are addressed in federal court. Republicans filed the challenges with the State Board of Elections. The challenges could affect the outcome of the state Supreme Court race between Democrat Allison Riggs and Jefferson Griffin, along with a handful of state legislative contests.

CJ Staff
News

Griffin asks Appeals Court to order decision on election protests by Tuesday

Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin is turning to North Carolina’s second-highest court for an order that would force state election officials to make a final decision about Griffin’s election protests Tuesday. The State Board of Elections had planned to hear oral arguments about the protests the following day, according to a document Griffin filed Friday with the state Court of Appeals.

CJ Staff

Videos

Video

Locke’s Donald Bryson discusses SCOTUS case dealing with Trump’s emergency tariffs

Donald Bryson, John Locke Foundation CEO and Carolina Journal publisher, discusses the US Supreme Court case addressing President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs. Locke filed a joint amicus brief challenging the constitutionality of emergency tariffs. Bryson offered these comments during the Oct. 28, 2025, episode of Spectrum News’ “Capital Tonight.”

Donald Bryson
Video

Carolina Journal’s Donna King analyzes NC congressional redistricting plans

Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses the North Carolina General Assembly’s plans to redraw the state’s congressional election map. King offered these comments during the Oct. 17, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Donna King
Video

Podcast: Revolutionary Roads

As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026, this podcast explores North Carolina’s pivotal role in the nation’s founding — from the War of Regulation to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and beyond. This 10-episode series, hosted by John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson, features guests with...

Video

The Debrief: Legislator arrested, Iryna’s Law aftermath, Oct. 7 remembered

This week on The Debrief, a Guilford County legislator’s arrest on sex-related charges prompts quick reaction from colleagues. Gov. Josh Stein chose an unusual way to signal his signing of Iryna’s Law. We discuss the governor’s video message and get expert analysis of the law’s potential impact. We also highlight a possible federal response. Lawmakers at the...

Video

Locke’s Mitch Kokai analyzes congressional hearing in Charlotte after light rail murder

Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses the congressional hearing conducted in Charlotte in connection with the high-profile Iryna Zarutska murder. Kokai offered these comments during the Oct. 3, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Mitch Kokai

Culture

Civil Society

Opinion

For healthy civil society, politics needs to stay in its lane

Political and cultural causes are important. They motivate us to make the world around us better and hone our sense of justice. Also, the excitement of fighting the good fight can be, for lack of a better word, fun. But everything has its time and place. And even if we think a particular political issue...

David Larson
Opinion

Flashback: North Carolina’s Easter Monday tradition forged on the baseball diamond

On Good Friday state offices will be closed in North Carolina for Holy Week, along with 10 other states. However, that has not always been the case in North Carolina. The Monday after Easter — rather than Good Friday — was a legal holiday in North Carolina for 52 years, and for many years before...

Dallas Woodhouse