Policy Watch Investigates

This week, five years after a federal judge struck down North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage, the U.S. Supreme Court is taking up an issue that, for some, could be even more consequential for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender North Carolinians.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest to withdraw from headlining an event featuring several controversial anti-Islamic speakers. Forest’s top-billing at such an event sends a dangerous message, said CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw.

Thom Goolsby, a former North Carolina state Senator now serving on the UNC Board of Governors, is running an “online financial education” company that might run afoul of a state order barring him from the financial services industry, a Policy Watch investigation has found. Two securities law experts who have examined the business’ offerings at Policy Watch’s request say Goolsby could be violating the spirit – and potentially the letter – of the order, issued in April 2014 by the office of the North Carolina Secretary of State.

Lt. Governor to share the stage with speakers who have vilified LGBTQ and Muslim communities, called for plan to "free Christian children from public education” Next month, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest will be the special guest at The American Renewal Project’s “North Carolina Renewal Project” event in Charlotte. The roster of speakers for the private conservative Christian event includes:

A year ago this month, students and activists toppled “Silent Sam,” the Confederate statue that stood on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill for more than a century. Now students and community members are taking aim at what they say is another historical eyesore: the number of campus buildings named for slave owners and avowed white supremacists.

Ag Commissioner Troxler opts in; 770 workers under Treasurer Folwell, Labor Commissioner Berry will not benefit Beginning next month, new parents working for the state will be able to take up to eight weeks of paid parental leave.

Last week Robin Jordan shared her experience at a field hearing on Medicaid expansion organized by N.C. Senator Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth) and Rep. Evelyn Terry (D-Forsyth). It wasn’t her perspective as a registered nurse she shared Friday at the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem. It was her experience as a mother.

Numerous questions remain, however, about the treatment of dozens of other trans inmates Kanautica Zayre-Brown made history Thursday. When the Department of Public Safety moved her from Warren Correctional Institution in Manson to Anson Correctional Institution in Polkton, she became the first transgender prisoner in North Carolina to be transferred from a prison designated for one gender to one designated for another.

In a one-on-one interview, Satana Deberry explains how she's transforming the prosecutor's office in NC's 6th largest county When Satana Deberry was executive director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition, it was easy for her to see the ripple effects of interactions with the justice system. A single arrest, a single plea, a single conviction for even a low level infraction could close doors to employment, housing and education, she said. That could lead to further arrests, perpetuating generational cycles of poverty.

When Satana Deberry took office as district attorney of Durham County in January, she pledged to make some serious changes. Deberry followed through, particularly in concentrating on the racial and economic disparities in how and for what people are prosecuted and in making Durham part of a national movement for bail reform.

The political stand-off over whether to expand Medicaid is stretching the state budget stalemate deep into summer with no end in site. But this week Sen. Gladys Robinson (D-Guilford) said she’s worried about how the gridlock could hurt the 1.6 million low-income North Carolinians already using Medicaid and undermine planned changes to the system.

Gov. Roy Cooper signed the controversial “Death by Distribution” bill into law last week. Under the new law (which takes effect on December 1), someone who gives certain drugs to another person leading to that person’s death can be...

Gov. Roy Cooper released a proposed budget compromise Tuesday as Republican legislative leaders continue to search for the votes to overturn his veto. The proposal does offer compromises on areas of disagreement from teacher raises and State Capital and Infrastructure Fund money to tax cuts and school vouchers.

June is Pride Month – a time to celebrate of LGBTQ equality and remember the origins of the ongoing struggle for it. This year it is being declared and celebrated in North Carolina from the capital to our smaller towns. But it is worth remembering: while today’s LGBTQ youth live in a world much more accepting than the one that sparked the Stonewall riot, many are still struggling.

As lawmakers work to negotiate a final state budget by the end of the month, the ongoing conflict between Vidant Health and the UNC System continues to unfold through public jabs and in private mediation. In the balance: Tens of millions in medicaid reimbursements to one of Eastern North Carolina’s most vital hospital systems.