Legislative and Policy
Highlighting state and national legislative news, focusing on some of the most important policy issues of the day.
The November 2012 Election will be remembered for many reasons. One of the most memorable and toughly fought presidential campaigns ended in a decisive win for President Barack Obama. The balance of power in the United States Congress remained unchanged, but this 113th Congress will begin its session with twenty female senators, the most in history. However, two other victories deserve the nation’s attention. Once the votes were tallied, it became clear a majority of Washington and
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On August 24, 2012, in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. FDA, a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that a provision of The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act violated the First Amendment. Signed by President Barack Obama on June 22, 2009, the Act purports to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to require that cigarette packages manufactured or sold in the United States contain textual warnings and color graphics depicting the negative
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Have you ever heard of Marcus Reymond Robinson? He is the man who was convicted of kidnapping 17-year-old high-school student Erik Tornblom and shooting him in the face with a sawed-off shotgun during a robbery that netted a grand total of $27. In 1994, Robinson was sentenced to death in Cumberland County Superior Court for his heinous crimes – crimes with an arguably racially-tinged motive. The facts set forth in the order of the North Carolina Superior Court state: Other evidence
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Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down down several portions of Arizona’s immigration bill, holding that three of the four challenged sections were preempted by federal law. Federal preemption severely limits what state and local governments can do in terms of creating laws intended to identify illegal aliens or punish those who knowingly or recklessly employ, transport or shelter them. Even state laws that directly copy federal law are held preempted, because Congress has “occupied
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At the end of last month, The Supreme Court ruled on SB 1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration law. Parts of the law were upheld, but the Court held that others were preempted by federal immigration law and were struck down. Some have considered the Arizona law to be the broadest and strictest measure in American history to prevent illegal immigration. Basic Provisions of SB 1070 At the federal level, current law requires all aliens over the age of 14 to register with the U.S.
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Amid the frenzy over the much-anticipated Supreme Court decision regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the Court handed down its decision in American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Bullock. The American public and media, with laser focus on the Court’s decision in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, didn’t seem to be listening when the Supreme Court quietly disposed of its opportunity to reconsider its 2010 decision permitting corporations to
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On July 3, 2012, the North Carolina legislature adjourned sine die – with no appointed date for resumption – bringing the two-year legislative session to an end. State lawmakers passed significant legislation affecting everything from municipal annexations to allowing table games at Harrah’s Casino, operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. However, it was the events of the night before, Monday, July 2, 2012, that captured the attention of internet junkies everywhere and
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A bill to create a public-private partnership between the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DENR) and the North Carolina Zoological Society did not garner enough support to pass the legislature during the short session, but we have not heard the last on this issue. Dr. David Jones, Director of the NC Zoo in Asheboro since 1994, told the Asheboro Courier Tribune that the setback was disappointing, but at least the efforts in the short session brought the serious financial needs of
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One does not simply look at a ten day forecast and expect the 10th day to be exactly as predicted, because forecasts are subject to change. It is with this basic notion in mind that many North Carolinians have questioned the purpose of House Bill 819, short titled Coastal Management Policies. The bill has also been ridiculed nationwide, including a segment on the satiric Colbert Report. Scientific American, in a blog post entitled “N.C. Considers Making Sea Rise Illegal,”
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If House Bill 1104 becomes law, North Carolina will become the tenth state to grant tax credits for donations to what are called “scholarship funding organizations” – nonprofit organizations that give scholarships or tuition grants to economically disadvantaged children in public schools to allow them to attend the private school of their choice. The concept seems appealing, but the bill has sharply divided the General Assembly along party lines. Its Republican proponents assert that
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According to a recent New York Court of Appeals decision, merely viewing child pornographic material online, without creating or downloading it, is not sufficient to constitute procurement or possession of child pornography for the purposes of New York Penal Law. The purposeful viewing of child pornography on the internet is now legal in New York,” Judge Victoria A. Graffeo wrote in one of two concurring decisions for the court earlier this month. James Kent, a Marist College professor of
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The Fourth Amendment, originally adopted in the Bill of Rights in response to abuse of the writ of assistance (a type of general search warrant) during the American Revolution, contains the well-known prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. The rights granted by this amendment have been extended into the walls of prisons across the country, particularly to detainees and inmates who retain most of their constitutional rights while incarcerated. The strip search, a process
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In a previous article, the Campbell Law Observer discussed the recent changes to North Carolina’s “castle doctrine,” which created a statutory presumption of a reasonable fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm when a person uses deadly force to defend himself in his home, vehicle, or workplace. These changes were part of a larger act which made several modifications to various laws governing the use of defensive force and the right to own, possess, or carry firearms. For the
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In 2009, North Carolina Senate Bill 460 (SB 460), sponsored by Senator Don Davis, made its first appearance in the state legislative session. The so-called “puppy-mill bill” sought to define and regulate commercial breeders within the state. The bill would have defined a commercial breeder as “any person who owns or maintains 15 or more intact female dogs of breeding age, and 30 or more puppies primarily for the purpose of sale.” Regulation of the practice would have occurred
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Why North Carolina? North Carolina is situated in the middle of a controversial debate about the extraction of natural gas, which can be used as an energy resource. Hydraulic fracturing, known colloquially as fracking, has been the center of discussion among community leaders, lawmakers, and activists as the North Carolina General Assembly continues to study the effects of this new technology used to extract natural gas from shale rock formations. The practice could soon come to central
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