Pro-growth policies have helped boost North Carolina’s economy in recent years. From tax reform to regulatory reform to government spending restraint, policymakers have taken steps to help boost North Carolina’s competitiveness. Becki Gray, John Locke Foundation senior vice president, highlights evidence of the state’s recent economic successes. A process called civil asset forfeiture allows law enforcement agencies to seize private property from people who have been convicted of no crimes. It’s the type of property-rights abuse the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Justice fights across the country. During a recent visit to North Carolina, IJ President and General Counsel Scott Bullock discussed his group’s efforts to fight civil asset forfeiture. Bullock also compared North Carolina to other states in the area of civil forfeiture abuse. North Carolina hopes to boost some of the state’s worst-performing public schools through the Innovative School District. That district allows outside operators to step in and change operations in schools with records of poor academic performance. During a recent legislative update on the ISD, some lawmakers raised questions about how its work could translate into improvements statewide. Ten years after the historic gun-rights ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Heller case, winning attorney Alan Gura says the status of gun rights is less strong than advocates might have hoped. During a recent forum at Campbell University Law School, Gura said many federal judges across the country refuse to follow the Heller precedent. Gura says he’s not sure the precedent will stand in the years to come. Democrats and Republicans often adopt different stances on public policy issues. But a recent High Point University poll suggests widespread bipartisan agreement on major public education issues. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation vice president for research, explains that the poll offers less value than one might expect. It relies on vague questions and offers respondents little detail about trade-offs involved in key policy choices.