ACLU News and Reporting Coverage | WRAL

NC ACLU chapter threatens legal action against UNC if professor is not reinstated by end of week

The North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is threatening to take legal action against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill if the university does not reinstate Dwayne Dixon.

ACLU of NC highlights youth voice with first of its kind project

The ACLU of North Carolina has launched a new project allowing young people to express their thoughts and feelings through non-traditional art forms.

Linda Kuku, CBC-UNC Fellow

Fact check: Does NC mask bill have 'specific carve outs' for the KKK?

"Thought the North Carolina mask ban couldn't get any worse? Buckle up!" read a May 14 post on X, formerly Twitter, adding: The bill "has specific carve outs for entities like the KKK to continue wearing hoods in public."

Paul Specht, PolitiFact reporter

As NC lawmakers consider antisemitism bill, critics worry about free speech

Some North Carolina lawmakers want to add a broad new definition of antisemitism to state statutes. Some say it's needed because state law doesn't clearly define the term. Others say the proposal could ban political criticism of Israel.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau Chief

Charter schools reverse course, allow students to keep long hairstyles through end of school year

Classical Charter Schools of America alerted families in its four schools in eastern North Carolina that school rules on grooming won't be enforced through the remainder of the academic year.

School defends grooming standards, sees 'trumped up controversy' in Native American families' resistance to cut boys' hair

Classical Charter Schools of America, owners of four schools in south and east North Carolina, posted a statement online in defense of school grooming standards in response to families in Whiteville and Leland who pushed back after their sons were asked to cut their hair.

Family sees discrimination in school's demand that boy cut his long hair

Administrators at a charter school in Columbus County are demanding a first-grade boy's hair be cut before students return from spring break.

Gilbert Baez, WRAL Fayetteville reporter

ACLU argues to bar death qualification from capital case

Closing arguments have been made in the ACLU's motion to bar the process of death qualification from the capital murder trial of Brandon Hill. An upcoming decision from a superior court judge could change the way capital cases are conducted in North Carolina.

Decision in motion to bar death qualification could change capital cases in North Carolina

An upcoming decision from a superior court judge could change the way capital cases are conducted in North Carolina.

Keenan Willard, WRAL eastern North Carolina reporter

ACLU: Death qualification would violate Raleigh man's constitutional rights

Brandon Hill is accused of shooting and killing a man at a Raleigh motel in 2016. But Hill's attorney said a death penalty case would violate Hill's constitutional rights.

ACLU challenges state rules on death penalty jurors

The American Civil Liberties Union said it's putting the death penalty on trial in the lead up to a capital murder case in Wake County.

NC DMV delayed for 4 years a change meant to help drivers because of a lawsuit

The NC DMV agreed to help drivers who can't afford traffic tickets keep their licenses. It offered to do it years ago but didn't because the division didn't want to lose a lawsuit.

Travis Fain, WRAL state government reporter

Lawsuit pushes drivers license reinstatement for people who can't afford traffic tickets

Tens of thousands of North Carolinians whose driver's licenses were revoked for failure to pay traffic tickets could have a better shot of getting their licenses back--even if they can't pay the fines.

Lawsuit pushes drivers license reinstatement for people who can't afford traffic tickets

Tens of thousands of North Carolinians whose driver's licenses were revoked for failure to pay traffic tickets could have a better shot of getting their licenses back--even if they can't pay the fines.

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter

Fact check: Does the ACLU oppose HR 1, the Democrats' voting rights bill?

The ACLU supports the HR 1's provisions to expand voting rights and while it has criticisms of the legislation, its senior counsel told PolitiFact that it has not formally opposed the 2021 version, saying "a serious legislative effort to restore and strengthen our republic is needed now more than ever." But McDaniel is right in that the organization says certain campaign finance provisions would limit free speech -- and the ACLU has formally opposed the bill in the past.

Amy Sherman, PolitiFact reporter

NC judge rules in favor of state prisoners who claim incarceration during pandemic is unconstitutional

A North Carolina Superior Court judge ruled that a coalition of civil rights groups are likely to win their claim that the incarceration of state prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic is unconstitutional.

NC judge rules in favor of state prisoners who claim incarceration during pandemic is unconstitutional

A North Carolina Superior Court judge ruled that a coalition of civil rights groups are likely to win their claim that the incarceration of state prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic is unconstitutional.

Civil rights groups sues governor, seek release of inmates amid COVID-19 spread

A coalition of civil rights groups filed suit against the Cooper administration Wednesday seeking the immediate release of inmates in state prisons at high risk for COVID-19.

Tyler Dukes, WRAL investigative reporter, & Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Settlement in NC lawsuit opens more public bathrooms to transgender individuals

Transgender individuals can use bathrooms matching their gender identity in many government buildings in North Carolina under a settlement approved by a federal judge Tuesday.

Matthew Burns, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor

ACLU threatens lawsuit if transgender inmate isn't put in women's prison

Activists demanded Monday that a transgender inmate be moved from an all-male prison to a state facility that houses women, with the American Civil Liberties Union threatening a lawsuit if the move isn't made.

State moves transgender inmate, but not to women's prison

In October 2017, Kanautica Zayre-Brown was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for insurance fraud and other crimes. She is now believed to be the state's only post-operative transgender inmate.

Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter

Judge: North Carolina must stop limiting hepatitis drugs

North Carolina prison authorities must stop denying expensive medicines to most of the inmates believed to be carriers of the potentially deadly blood-borne infection hepatitis C, a federal judge ruled this week.

By EMERY P. DALESIO, Associated Press

AG Stein pushing for same-sex domestic violence protections

North Carolina is the only state in the U.S. that doesn't issue domestic violence restraining orders for victims in same-sex dating relationships, but Attorney General Josh Stein hopes to change that.

Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief, & Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter

NC prisons un-ban book on race, mass incarceration after ACLU request

The state prison system will drop a book on racism and mass incarceration from its list of banned books, a spokeswoman said Tuesday, following a request from the ACLU's North Carolina chapter.

Travis Fain

Attorneys: NC court fees are unconstitutional

Social justice groups rolled out their offensive against North Carolina's court fees Monday, arguing that many of them violate the state constitution and pushing back against both increasing fees and a General Assembly clampdown on the judges who waive them.

Travis Fain