State Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls has secured support from 16 self-described civil rights organizations and a group of legal ethics professors in her First Amendment fight against the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission. Earls also filed new court documents Friday supporting her case.
Candidates, former candidates, and grassroots activists converged on the Hal Marshall Annex building in Uptown Charlotte during the first day of in-person early voting in Mecklenburg County’s municipal elections on October 19. Leaders from the Mecklenburg County Republican Party (MeckGOP) were also on hand to greet voters and advocate for why early voting matters. “Republicans...
Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses the latest debate over North Carolina’s congressional election map. Kokai offered these comments during the Oct. 20, 2023, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
The state Supreme Court voted 5-2 to take another look at North Carolina’s long-running court battle over education funding. Justices will decide whether a trial court had “subject matter jurisdiction” to order hundreds of millions of dollars in new education spending. The decision announced Friday split the court along party lines. Republicans agreed to hear the case again. Democrats dissented.
The state Supreme Court will not review the 2019 firing of Winston-Salem State University’s head football coach. Kienus Boulware had argued that the university failed to follow proper procedure when it dismissed him.
Hospitals undoubtedly provide services that are difficult to finance. But forcing patients to pay more for unrelated services is an extraordinarily indirect way to subsidize them.
Any political coalition broad enough to obtain and wield power will necessarily include multiple factions. Our Founders found ways to work together despite their many differences. We can, too — and should.
Arkansas and Tennessee recently passed laws that force pharmacies to divest from owning affiliated companies. North Carolina lawmakers would be wise not to follow their lead.
Many have absorbed a view that the poor, the weak, and the downtrodden are pure of heart and should be presumed to be in the right; and the rich, the strong, and the ones imposing their will should be presumed to be in the wrong.
The year 2024 was marked by significant developments across politics, the economy, education, and energy in North Carolina. As one of the nation’s most dynamic and closely watched states, it played a pivotal role in shaping regional and national conversations.
"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."
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.
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.
A federal judge will allow state and national Republican groups to move forward with their lawsuit challenging 225,000 voter registrations in North Carolina. An order issued Friday denied requests from the State Board of Elections and Democratic National Committee to have the case dismissed.
In this Carolina Journal interview, CaptiveAire founder and president Bob Luddy discusses how tariffs have affected his commercial HVAC manufacturing company and the broader business community. Luddy says CaptiveAire is spending roughly $15 million annually on tariffs, largely on internationally sourced components such as motors, compressors, electronics, and filtration products that he says are not...
Danny Batten, owner of outdoor retailer Surf, Wind, & Fire, which has locations in both New Bern and Edenton, spoke on a panel for the John Locke Foundation about the impact of tariffs on his small business and comparative advantage.
This week on The Debrief, the world comes to Asheville as G20 finance leaders gather to confront Iran, global trade, debt, and economic growth. We examine new Medicaid work and renewal requirements that could affect hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians and the legal fight pitting North Carolina against the Trump administration’s tariffs. Plus, an...
Jeff Moore, John Locke Foundation vice president of communications, discusses the negative impact of North Carolina’s certificate-of-need law on state healthcare costs. Moore offered these comments during the Aug. 28, 2026, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have returned to the headlines because of a recent spat with Canada. Carolina Journal published this week the first in a series of articles about tariffs’ real-world impacts in North Carolina. We chat with the series author about her findings. State legislators are gone from Raleigh for the summer but...
Human flourishing requires a political culture that nurtures freedom and a civic culture that nurtures family and fertility.
I want to see children reading — that is my great and lasting desire. I want to see them fuel their imaginations and feed their hunger for knowledge. And I sincerely believe that books can do this for them in ways other things never will.
Today, political division in our country runs high — with mass media channels across the country harnessing words like "dictator" and "fascist" to describe our political leaders. This vocabulary of tyranny has become diluted in its meaning, and in cheapening it we insult the millions who live under the genuine article in countries like Turkmenistan.
The choice is no longer between diversity and merit. The real choice is between superficial diversity that checks boxes and meaningful diversity that delivers results.
To restore healthy public discourse, each of us must become better listeners. Civil discourse is not a competition with winners and losers; it is a deliberate and respectful exchange of ideas.
Outrage won’t solve our problems. And it won’t prepare us for tomorrow. What is needed now is a sense of redemption and reasons to feel hopeful.
What YMCA's Youth and Government program is doing is remarkable. This year’s conference garnered interest from NC state legislators, mayors, policy analysts, and state officials.
Times change. When we introduce IOPL to potential fellows, partners, and donors, some hear the word “political” and think “toxic,” or at least “partisan.”
Like a faith gathering, it incorporated music, fellowship, shared meals, and thoughtful discourse — but with democracy as its central theme.