Articles by Harper Gwatney, Former Associate Editor/Ethics

About Harper Gwatney, Former Associate Editor/Ethics (9 Articles)

Harper Gwatney, originally from Goldsboro, North Carolina, served as an Associate Editor for the Campbell Law Observer during the 2013-2014 academic year. She was also a member of the school's Mock Trial Team and an Associate Chair of the Old Kivett Advocacy Council. Prior to law school, Harper received a Bachelor's degree in English from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master's in the Art of Teaching from East Carolina University. Harper then taught Honors and IB English at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Prior to her graduation from Campbell Law School in May 2014, Harper worked with Walker Allen Grice Ammons & Foy; Superior Court Judge Paul C. Ridgeway; the firm of Stewart Schmidlin Bullock and Gupta; and the Wake County District Attorney's Office.

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Would police need a warrant to search Zack Morris’s cellphone?

January 8, 2014

As two cases make their way to the Supreme Court of the United States, attorneys, officers, and defendants await a final answer regarding the constitutionality of warrantless cellphone searches. [...]

Serving the Public and Avoiding Conflicts [Updated]

July 17, 2013

The North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct create unique challenges for lawyers appointed to public office. [...]

The Fisher decision offers few answers to questions surrounding Affirmative Action

July 2, 2013

On the morning of June 24, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States was set to announce its decision in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. Many Americans believed the opinion would be landmark, a definitive ruling on the long-debated issue of affirmative action in college admissions policies. The Court, instead, announced what arguably could be described as a non-decision (pdf). No definition was provided for “critical mass” and other affirmative action buzzwords. No hard [...]

The James Holmes trial turns its focus to knowing right from wrong

May 30, 2013

July 20, 2012. Just after midnight. A dark movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Audience members are seated to watch the highly anticipated Dark Knight Rises, the final film in the acclaimed Batman series. But what begins as a theater buzzing with excitement over the on-screen entertainment quickly turns into a theater filled with cries of terror over the real-life nightmare occurring in the theater. No longer is the audience captivated by Bane, the movie’s villain with his [...]

Disclaim and Disclose: Navigating the “Blawgosphere” without Violating the Rules of Ethics

April 25, 2013

People routinely use the Internet for various functions. Whether personal, professional, or political, web use undoubtedly plays a prominent role in the everyday lives of many Americans. As is often the case, however, with popularity often comes problems. Turn on the news, click on a news website, or tap the news app on your smartphone, and you likely will find a story involving the use – or misuse – of technology and social media. In March of 2011, Virginia attorney Horace Hunter [...]

What is Reasonable? The Use of Force in Compelling Blood Samples for DWI Charges

February 21, 2013

The Arrest Around 11 p.m. on July 12, 2010, a truck pulled into the parking lot of a Winston Salem gas station,with Kevin Deon Wilson in the driver’s seat. Although Wilson later denied driving the truck, whose owner was also in the vehicle, he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated (DWI) and driving with a revoked license. Despite the relatively commonplace nature of the charges against Wilson, what followed his arrest was far from expected. The officer on the [...]

More – or Less – at Four: Potential Changes to North Carolina’s Pre-Kindergarten Program

January 3, 2013

The Right to a Sound Basic Education Article I of the North Carolina Constitution asserts that the people of this state have “a right to the privilege of education” and imposes upon the State a duty “to guard and maintain that right.” Article IX extends the idea further by instilling responsibility in the General Assembly for providing and maintaining free public schools to which all citizens of the State will have equal access. Though explicitly written into the state constitution, [...]

Clearance and the Need to Know: Potential Legal Action against Navy SEAL Team 6 Member

October 15, 2012

On May 2, 2011, United States Navy SEAL Team Six completed a decade-long mission: they killed Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind. While members of the team remained quiet, the assassination effort garnered global attention and became a crowning achievement and campaign talking point for the Obama Administration. The Commander in Chief spoke publicly about the death of Bin Laden, but those involved maintained anonymity. That anonymity, however, proved to be only temporary. [...]

Toeing the Ethical Line: Are For-Profit Law Schools Lowering Standards and Increasing Student Debt?

September 18, 2012

Note from the Editors: Recently, the Campbell Law Observer hosted a write-on competition to recruit new staff writers. Each student was to discuss the impact of for-profit law schools on the legal academy and the legal profession. Below, you will find the article that received the second-highest score from the editorial board. We have published these articles in an attempt to display two perspectives. It is no secret that entering the legal profession in its current state is a [...]