School of Government Podcasts

In this episode, Hyde and Holbrook discuss three cases decided by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on October 1, 2024, all of them involving issues of search and seizure. In State v. Jackson, COA23-637, the Court of Appeals concluded the defendant’s consent to search his car was not involuntary [...]

In this episode, Hyde and Holbrook discuss two cases decided by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on September 17, 2024. In State v. Evans, COA23-1160, the Court of Appeals addressed the defendant’s challenge to the State’s evidence of larceny by an employee, concluding there was sufficient evidence of an intent [...]

In this episode, Hyde and Holbrook discuss three cases decided by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on September 3, 2024. In State v. Little, COA23-410, the Court of Appeals held the odor and smell of marijuana alone provide probable cause for a search. In State v. Pierce, No COA23-348, the Court of Appeals [...]

This podcast explores how the North Carolina Benchmarking Project is enabling data and decisions in municipalities. The Benchmarking Project allows elected leaders and managers to compare service data and performance trends with other participating units. 

This episode covers the first successful Second Amendment challenge to a North Carolina criminal law, evidentiary challenges with marijuana prosecutions, and preservation of motions to suppress.

2023 legislation enacted by the NC General Assembly created a “Parents’ Bill of Rights”. Local public officials who are responsible for health care services for minors are affected by the legislation, although some parts of the bill simply codify language from already-existing laws. Learn what’s new and what’s not new [...]

This episode discusses recent legislation, including the expansion of the public defender system in the state and felony pleas in district court, along with cases on search and seizure in the age of legal hemp, the Confrontation Clause, plea bargaining, and sentencing.

This episode highlights recent state search and seizure cases, new state criminal law legislation, prayers for judgment continued (“PJCs”), and more.

Pregnant women with substance use disorders face challenges in finding obstetrical care. The SUN project in Cabarrus County is a collaborative approach to cross-sector pre-natal care that treats the mother, the newborn, and the family with a comprehensive array of services steeped in compassion.  

Public officials across Guilford County decided Elder Abuse was not acceptable. A multi-disciplinary team made up of law enforcement officers, judicial officials, and agencies that work with elderly populations, is breaking down silos between agencies through a shared mission: to protect older adults from abuse and stop the perpetrators. 

This episode covers the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of review in State v. Diaz-Tomas regarding dismissal with leave, the Court’s grant of review in the substitute analyst case of Smith v. Arizona, the North Carolina Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Arthur on drug identification, and recent legislation in the [...]

Growing old is hard. For most of us, we whine and complain about our ailments and then move on to the next topic of the day. That’s not reality for many older adults. In this podcast, we explore the School of Government’s Adult Protection Network, and how elected officials can [...]

How does workplace culture affect worker recruitment and retention? This topic was identified by our faculty as one of five issues to watch in 2023. We talk about what workplace culture means in the public sector and why it should matter to local governing boards.

North Carolina elected officials described what it means to get derailed – what it looks like and what happens as a result. SOG faculty member Willow Jacobson and her colleagues discuss what we learned: who really suffers when a local elected official gets derailed?

This episode discusses recent legislation, including changes to satellite-based monitoring and a new offense of misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, as well as recent state cases on constructive possession, Harbison error, and expert testimony.

This episode discusses the filings at the U.S. Supreme Court in State v. Diaz-Tomas, monetary obligations in criminal cases, recent state legislation, as well as cases on courtroom closures and capacity to proceed.

Whether you own your home or rent it, the value of it affects how much you pay for it. The process for determining the true value of taxable property is called “appraisal”. Local elected officials are responsible for assuring that it’s accurate, fair, and equitable. How does that work?

Elected officials want economically vibrant communities and gentrification is affecting property values in many urban areas. Learn how changing housing markets can lead to equity issues in property appraisals and appeals.

This episode explores recent findings of the NC Institute of Medicine’s Task Force on the Future of the Public Health Workforce in NC.

In the final episode of our series about sex and labor trafficking, a survivor of familial trafficking shares her story of abuse, resilience, and success.

This episode covers the latest in criminal law, including artificial intelligence and the law, harm reduction laws, khat, the constitutionality of disorderly conducts laws, live-streaming the police, the exclusionary rule at probation, and more.

We encounter the survivors of human trafficking without realizing it.  This episode is the second of three in a series about sex and labor trafficking.  In it, we hear from a local government elected official who was trafficked as a teenager and learn about the factors that enabled her resilience.

When it comes to human trafficking, elected officials might think “that doesn’t happen here.” In this podcast, the UNC School of Government’s expert in human trafficking, Margaret Henderson, talks about her recently-published bulletin on one specific form of human trafficking, familial sex trafficking, which does in fact exist here in [...]

This episode covers recent state and national criminal law news, along with recent criminal decisions from the NC Supreme Court and the NC Court of Appeals. Topics include 911 call analysis, forfeiture of counsel, obstruction of justice, reinstatement of charges dismissed with leave, and cannabis.

This episode covers the latest in federal and state criminal law news, recent Fourth Amendment cases from the Fourth Circuit, new developments in cannabis and drug identification in the state, new state cases on identity theft and going armed to the terror of the public, as well as a review [...]