The legal battle over a judge confiscating a reporter’s notes and issuing a gag order has grown increasingly Kafkaesque.
Michael Hewlett
Michael Hewlett is a courts and law reporter for The Assembly. He was previously a legal affairs reporter at the Winston-Salem Journal and has won two Henry Lee Weathers Freedom of Information Awards.
Posted inCourts & Justice
Charles McNeair Spent His Adult Life in Prison. At 63, He’ll Go Home.
A man imprisoned as a teenager for a crime he has maintained he didn’t commit has finally been granted parole.
Posted inFilm & Television
New Documentary Features Joan Little’s Fight for Justice
In the 1970s, Joan Little was a poor, young Black woman who killed a Beaufort County detention officer who she said tried to sexually assault her. Her case sparked an international movement.
Posted inCourts & Justice
Charlotte Man Found Incapable of Proceeding to Trial in Iryna Zarutska Case
DeCarlos Brown had a long history of mental illness. His lawyers said a state psychiatric hospital found him unfit for trial.
Posted inCourts & Justice
No Shortcuts
Prosecutors wanted the state Supreme Court to review an August ruling that overturned four men’s convictions in the murder of Nathaniel Jones.
Posted inCourts & Justice
The Life and Tragic Death of Eleanor Rush
Newly released federal records shed light on Eleanor Rush’s 1954 death in a North Carolina prison—and the uprising and reforms that followed.
Posted inImmigration
Charlotte Man Seeks $1.25 Million in Damages Over Immigration Stop
The class-action lawsuit was the first legal salvo from November’s immigration enforcement crackdown.
Posted inElections
Who Emerged Victorious in the State Appellate Court Primaries?
Tuesday’s primary results set up a high-stakes battle for power over the state appellate court this fall.
Posted inElections
Jerry Tillett Wins Republican State Senate Primary in Northeast N.C.
During his campaign, the former judge faced accusations of using racist language in an audio recording.
Posted inCourts & Justice
Durham Man Sues Over Alleged Wrongful Conviction
The lawsuit said the case is part of a systemic problem in which Durham Police detectives have engaged in misconduct that resulted in wrongful convictions.