Since CARES Act funds are received in the state treasury and distributed through it, those funds are “public funds” within the meaning of S.C. Const. art. XI, § 4. Consequently, the governor may not allocate CARES Act funds to support ...
Read More »Constitutional – Schools & School Boards – CARES Act – Private School Funding
Constitutional – Importing prior discriminatory intent to new voting law was error 
Although North Carolina previously acted with racially discriminatory intent in enacting a 2013 omnibus voting law that included voter-ID requirement, it was error to assume that same intent influenced the passage of the state’s 2018 voter-ID law. Background This case ...
Read More »Constitutional – Short-term aerial surveillance allowed to continue 
Where Baltimore’s short-term aerial surveillance program does not target particular individuals or violate a reasonable expectation of privacy, and seeks to meet a serious law enforcement need without burdening constitutional rights, the denial of community activists’ request for a preliminary ...
Read More »Constitutional – N.C. absentee ballot deadline not extended 
Where parties challenging the North Carolina State Board of Elections’ decision to extend the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots failed to demonstrate they were likely to succeed on the merits of their Equal Protection or Elections Clause arguments, the ...
Read More »Constitutional – Schools & School Boards – CARES Act – Private School Funding 
Since CARES Act funds are received in the state treasury and distributed through it, those funds are “public funds” within the meaning of S.C. Const. art. XI, § 4. Consequently, the governor may not allocate CARES Act funds to support ...
Read More »Constitutional – South Carolina absentee ballot case before full Fourth Circuit 
After the district court stayed a South Carolina witness requirement for mail-in absentee ballots and a panel of the Fourth Circuit stayed the injunction pending appeal, the full Fourth Circuit granted rehearing en banc and vacated the panel’s stay. Background ...
Read More »Constitutional – South Carolina absentee ballot witness requirements stayed 
South Carolina’s witness requirement for absentee ballots is once again stayed after a majority of judges on the Fourth Circuit refused to upset the district court order enjoining the requirement. A three-judge panel initially stayed the district court’s order, but ...
Read More »Constitutional – No en banc rehearing in transgender bathroom case 
A majority of the judges concurred in denying an en banc rehearing of a decision finding the school board violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause by requiring students to use bathrooms matching their “biological gender” and refusing to ...
Read More »Constitutional – School board violated transgender student’s rights 
The Gloucester County School Board’s policy requiring students to use bathrooms matching their “biological gender,” and its refusal to amend a student’s records to reflect his gender identity after his transition, were not substantially related to important governmental interests and ...
Read More »Constitutional – Portions of Anti-Riot Act held unconstitutional 
Although sections of the anti-riot act failed to bear the requisite relation between speech and lawlessness, the convictions of two defendants for violent participation in three white supremacist rallies were affirmed because their conduct fell under the statute’s surviving provisions. ...
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