Publications

Describes the evolution of North Carolina's social services system and discusses responsibilities of the federal government, the state, and counties with respect to the administration and financing of social services programs.

Summarizes a U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a local ordinance that prohibited a resident of Ladue, Missouri, from displaying an antiwar sign in a window of her home. The bulletin discusses the decision's possible implications for local governments wishing to regulate the display of signs on residential property.

Discusses a U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding whether a local government's flow-control ordinance_directing that all solid waste generated within its boundaries be transported to or disposed of at a facility controlled by a local government_violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Addresses two questions: 1) can a citizen refuse to provide his or her Social Security account number to the government, and if so, when? and 2) once a government has acquired a person's social security number, is that number a public record, accessible to anyone who cares to ask?