News

Friday Interview: Obamacare’s Lingering Problems

RALEIGH — Headlines in recent months have attracted attention to technical problems associated with HealthCare.gov, the primary website associated with the federal Affordable Care Act. While some technical issues remain to be resolved, Hadley Heath, senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum, focuses her attention on other, more far-reaching flaws in the law known popularly as Obamacare. Heath shared her concerns with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.

CJ Staff
News

JLF Education Expert Recommends New Groups to Study Common Core

RALEIGH — Two new permanent commissions should help North Carolina leaders decide whether to modify or replace controversial Common Core public school standards. That’s the recommendation the John Locke Foundation’s top education expert puts forward in a new Spotlight report. He testifies during today’s meeting of the Legislative Research Commission’s Committee on Common Core State Standards.

CJ Staff
News

Court Says ‘Community Caregiving’ Empowers Searches

RALEIGH — In a January decision, the N.C. Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of an officer’s decision to stop a car even though he didn’t suspect the driver of any wrongdoing. The court concluded that there was a “community caregiving” obligation in this instance that overruled the protections against unreasonable searches and seizures in the Fourth Amendment.

Michael Lowrey
Video

JLF’s Terry Stoops explains why N.C. can’t fix Common Core by changing the name

Dr. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation director of research and education studies, explains why North Carolina leaders cannot fix problems associated with Common Core public school standards simply by changing the Common Core name. Stoops offered these comments during an interview for Carolina Journal Radio (Program No. 561).

Dr. Terry Stoops
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Opinion

Opinion

Low debt burden aids North Carolina

Because I’m a fiscal conservative, you might think I reflexively oppose government borrowing. You’d be mistaken. I believe that public finance and toxicology share a common rule: the dose makes the poison. That phrase is traditionally attributed to Paracelsus, a physician and philosopher of the German Renaissance, but the underlying notion, that something can be...

John Hood
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Elections

Opinion

Should NC reform its primary system? The case to return to 40% threshold

In a Carolina Journal poll conducted shortly after the November elections, 43% of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the results of the 2024 primaries, stating that they did not produce the best candidates for the general election. While 46% were satisfied and 10% were unsure, the significant level of dissatisfaction highlights potential issues within North Carolina’s primary system.

Donna King
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
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Videos

Video

Locke’s Mitch Kokai responds to AG Jackson’s lawsuit over SNAP benefits

Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson joining Democratic counterparts in other states in a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. It focuses on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Kokai offered these comments during the Oct. 31, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Mitch Kokai
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
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Culture

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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
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