A Charlotte makeup artist wants to open a school to share her expertise. But a state regulatory board says no. To win state permission, Jasna Bukvic-Bhayani would be forced buy thousands of dollars of new equipment and expand her curriculum to include 500 hours of instruction in subjects other than makeup. So she is suing the state. Carolina Journal has covered her story. Editor-in-Chief Rick Henderson explains why the Institute for Justice is pursuing the lawsuit on free-speech grounds. The political left has turned to the sports world in recent years for ammunition in its ideological battles. The “weaponization” of sports has attracted attention from John Locke Foundation Senior Vice President Jon Pritchett and Duke University visiting professor Ed Tiryakian. They explain how the campaign to turn the athletic arena into a political battleground is hurting entities such as cable sports giant ESPN. The N.C. Supreme Court listened recently to the latest arguments in a political fight between Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the Republican-led General Assembly. Cooper’s attorney, Jim Phillips, challenged the legislature’s plan to merge state elections and ethics boards into a new eight-member group split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. The legislature’s attorney, Noah Huffstetler, responded that lawmakers have the constitutional power to reshape state agencies. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions touted local and federal efforts to fight gang violence during a recent speech in Winston-Salem. The nation’s top law enforcement officer detailed efforts in Washington, D.C., to support anti-gang work from local law enforcement agencies. A recent tweet from President Trump faulted online shopping giant Amazon for its negative impact on local retail business across the country. Roy Cordato, John Locke Foundation senior economic and resident scholar, explains why Trump’s comments miss the mark. Cordato says the president ignores the importance of consumer choice in markets and the ultimate purpose of production in a free market.