NCBA Government & Public Sector Section Scholarship Experience

MaryAnne HamiltonBy MaryAnne M. Hamilton

I spent part of this past summer interning with the North Carolina Department of Justice, in the Land, Groundwater and Waste section of the Environmental Division. I was pleased to have this opportunity to combine two of my core interests – public service and environmental law. I am very grateful to the North Carolina Bar Association Government & Public Sector Section for supporting my interest in public service with a $1,000 scholarship to help cover my expenses for the summer.

I am a law student who has entered law school after changing careers, and the impulse to serve others drove my decision to go to law school. I joined the Navy after high school because I was drawn to its ideals of service and leadership. My time in uniform built the foundation that allowed me, a few years later, to build my own business as a freelance editorial manager, writer, and editor. In choosing law school, I returned to those ideals; I was seeking a way to deploy my writing and research skills in service to others, and to society at large. Working with the Environmental Division allowed me to combine that impulse to serve others with my deep personal concerns about environmental issues, including climate change and the vast amount of waste humans create.

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NCBA Government & Public Sector Section Summer Scholarship

By R. Wyatt Bland

I would like to thank the North Carolina Bar Association Government & Public Sector Section for awarding me with a $500 scholarship to supplement my living expenses during my internship with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office. I applied for the scholarship this past summer by submitting my resume and a cover letter about my passion for public service.

I strive to live a life of service and make a difference. That goal is why I joined the North Carolina Army National Guard in high school. While attending East Carolina University, I followed my passion for service by striving to embody the university motto of “Servire” – “To Serve” – through various service roles within the Student Government Association and the Student Conduct Board. In my first year as a student representative, I sponsored more legislation than any other member, which led to positive changes in my community, ranging from healthier options at the dining hall to the installation of a crosswalk at a local intersection. I continued to serve in law school as the NCBA Student Representative and vice president, managing partner for the Veterans Pro Bono Project, and editor in chief of the Campbell Law Observer. As the managing partner for the Veterans Pro Bono Project, I led the transition from a project that lacked direction and opportunities to a project now approved by the faculty and Dean to provide pro bono discharge upgrade services.

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‘The Work of Restoration,’ a CLE for Every Lawyer on Earth Day

By Terri Jones

As we enter our second year of COVID-19, let’s move from pivoting and the new normal to restoring ourselves, the legal profession, government employees, civil society, and ultimately the Earth.

Join us on April 22, 2021 via live webcast as the NCBA Government & Public Sector Section holds its annual CLE program. This program qualifies for 6.50 MCLE credit hours for North Carolina, including 1.50 for ethics/professional responsibility, 1.0 for substance abuse/mental health, and 1.0 for technology training.

During this program, hear from a great lineup of experts in their fields and attorneys at all levels of government as they focus on facing problems and the work of restoration.

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A Plethora of Pandemic Predicaments, a CLE for Posterity

Paraphrasing Shakespeare, when it comes to COVID-19, there are more things in heaven and earth than any one attorney has considered.

Puzzle out some pressing pandemic issues by participating in the upcoming CLE, Law in the Time of Corona: People, Places, Protests and Police. Profit from the pundits and their manuscripts as they provide practice tips. Ponder with them over issues you may not yet have encountered or may want to learn to handle more proficiently.

A pair of sections (Administrative Law and Government and Public Sector) have pulled together a positively praiseworthy CLE for you. Examples of issues that pop up just in the CLE papers include (paraphrasing):

* Lurkers in public meetings online

* Policy-making as to which political bodies, like local government-appointed boards, pose problems for budgets for remote meetings

* Policing models – Problem Oriented Policing as one possibility

* Preparing for public access and signage

Protect yourself and your clients by participating in this virtual webinar on November 20, 2020. Pick up 6 hours of CLE credit as you parley a little time into proficiency. Register ASAP! You’ll regret it if you don’t. Peruse the particulars and register here.

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Ketan Soni Presents “The New Community Platform”

By Ketan Soni

What You Need to Know About the New Community Platform

This year, the NCBA has switched to a new online community platform. This new community platform for Sections, Divisions and Councils offers many more features than the previous system. Below is a summary of the basics and what you need to know to utilize this platform and its features.

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A Welcome Message from the Chair

By Jennifer Jones

Government & Public Sector Members:

Welcome to a new Bar year!  My name is Jennifer Jones, and I am honored to serve this year as the Chair of the Government & Public Sector Section for the 2020-2021 year.

Of course, this Bar year is shaping up to be unlike any other in the last 121 years of the history of the North Carolina Bar Association, or at least in any of our collective memories. We are living through historic times in multiple ways. We are facing a pandemic that feels endless at times. We are acknowledging our nation’s history of systemic racism, and trying to right the wrongs that Black, Indigenous, and people of color have faced for far too long. Additionally, we are living through a contentious election year that threatens to divide us, when we need to come together to fight both the pandemic and systemic racism.

Of course, the stress of living and working in a pandemic and navigating this new way of life takes a toll on all of us. Frankly, I am tired of hearing the term “the new normal,” but there seems to be no other way to describe what’s happening now. From teleworking, to finding childcare, to caring for aging parents, to schooling our children at least part time from home, 2020 has been a year of incredible challenges.

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Still Standing: COA Declines The Opportunity To Change Standing Requirements

By Nick Tosco  

In reading the most recent Court of Appeals decision on standing in North Carolina, Hoag v. Pitt County (19-826 – Unpublished), I’m reminded of Elton John’s hit “I’m Still Standing.” It seems like there is a new challenge to the standing requirements in North Carolina on a regular basis, and yet the appellate courts consistently hold the line on the requirement to allege special damages that are distinct from the rest of the community in a particularized and supportable way. In Hoag, the Court declined the opportunity to knock down the standing barrier. This requirement is very much “still standing  . . . yeah, yeah, yeah.”

It might seem unnecessary to write about an unpublished case handed down by the Court of Appeals, but I think Hoag is more about what the COA didn’t say than what it did say (or publish). The Court had the opportunity to loosen the pleading requirements for standing, but it decided the rule works well and no new precedent was necessary in this case.

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Fight Hunger, Help Others in the COVID-19 Pandemic – Participate in the Legal Feeding Frenzy and Support Your Local Food Bank!

Michele Livingstone

Will Quick

By Michele Livingstone and Will Quick

We are in unprecedented times with COVID-19 (Coronavirus).  It is now more important than ever that we help our neighbors and those who are not as fortunate. I am confident that each of you is doing your part.

Even in the best of times, however, over 1.5 Million North Carolinians struggle with hunger—of those, nearly half a million are children. With public schools and many religious and nonprofit organizations that traditionally serve the food insecure in our communities being closed for indefinite periods, and government leaders calling for social distancing to help limit the spread of Coronavirus, that need is never more pressing than now.

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Legal Authority for Restrictions of Public Access and Conduct in Guilford County Facilities

By Mark Payne

Federal and State law have long-recognized that the public does not have unfettered access to public buildings. The U.S. Supreme Court has noted that “it is settled law that the First Amendment does not guarantee access to property simply because it is owned or controlled by the government.” Hemmati v. United States, 564 A.2d 739 (1989); see also USPS v. Greenburgh Civic Associations 453 U.S. 114 (1981). “The State, no less than a private owner of property, has power to preserve the property under its control for use to which it is lawfully dedicated.” Adderley v. Florida, 385 U.S. 39, 47, 17 L.Ed. 2d 149 (1966); see also Cox v. State of La., 379 U.S. 536, 554, 85 S. Ct. 453, 464, 13 L.Ed. 2d 471 (1965).

These long-standing precepts are being tested and challenged by a group of individuals, including so-called “First Amendment Auditors.” These are a loosely organized group of individuals whose agenda consists of variations on the following theme: the First Amendment authorizes any member of the public to enter into any government space and go anywhere within that space. Many of these individuals film all interactions with public officials, employees, and security and take actions that, in some instances, are clearly intended to provoke a negative response. These interactions are usually live-streamed or posted on social media after editing. As they travel from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, it is likely that your municipality or county will be visited by these individuals.

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Interesting Reads for GPS Members

“Resources for Reliable Information on Coronavirus in North Carolina.” By Jill Moore, March 2, 2020, Coates’ Canons: NC Local Government Law. From the Article: “The School of Government is compiling resources about North Carolina communicable disease law and the COVID-19 outbreak on its North Carolina Public Health Law microsite. This direct link will take you to those resources. Because I have been receiving a number of questions about North Carolina isolation and quarantine law, the resources include free access to a 2017 book chapter that I wrote on that subject–click here for North Carolina Communicable Disease Law Chapter 6, Isolation and Quarantine Law. The chapter provides an overview of state law but is not specific to the current outbreak.”

“How Will We Know if COVID-19 is in North Carolina? A Look at the State’s Communicable Disease Reporting Laws.” By Jill Moore, March 2, 2020, Coates’ Canons: NC Local Government Law. From the Article: “North Carolina has laws that require health care professionals (and sometimes others) to notify public health officials when they know or suspect that a patient has a condition or disease that has been designated ‘reportable.’ COVID-19 is now reportable in North Carolina. Health care providers who have patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should notify their local health department or the NC Division of Public Health’s Communicable Disease Branch immediately. This post reviews the North Carolina laws that address communicable disease reporting.”

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