Shea blogged here about the same-sex marriage rulings in North Carolina’s federal courts, and the potential criminal law and other issues those rulings present for North Carolina magistrates. There have been a bevy of developments since, including a decision by the Sixth Circuit upholding a ban on same-sex marriage, apparently teeing the issue up for the Supreme Court, and a dispute between Senator Phil Berger and the Administrative Office of the Courts about whether magistrates may refuse to perform same-sex marriages based on sincerely-held religious beliefs. WRAL covers the latter story, including a link to the latest AOC letter on the issue, here. I also recommend my colleague Michael Crowell’s detailed exploration of the issue, here. But that’s far from the only big story of the week. In other news: Move to unseal Charlotte records related to Stingrays. The Charlotte Observer posted this follow-up to its earlier story about cell site emulators, or Stingrays. The Observer has moved to unseal old applications and orders concerning Stingrays, and the story quotes several judges who appeared to favor unsealing. However, the FBI takes the position that Stingrays are a national security technology and that proceedings about them should remain secret, so some federal involvement in the fracas seems possible. I posted about the law of Stingrays – such as it is – here. Pot prohibition polls poorly. The alliteration is a bit of a stretch, but the point is that marijuana legalization initiatives did well on election day. CNN reports here that Alaska [...]
Faculty Coordinators
