North Carolina
Stay informed about our latest work in the courts.
By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU's privacy statement.
All Cases
19 North Carolina Cases
North Carolina
Aug 2024
![Billard v. Charlotte Catholic High School](https://www.aclu.dev/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Billard v. Charlotte Catholic High School
Lonnie Billard worked at Charlotte Catholic High School for more than a decade – both as full-time drama and as a long-term substitute teacher – and has won numerous teaching awards, including teacher of the year. In October 2014, Lonnie wrote a Facebook post announcing that he and his long-time partner were getting married. Later that year, the school told Lonnie he could no longer work as a substitute teacher because his engagement and marriage to another man was contrary to the religious principles of the Catholic Church.
Status: Ongoing
View case
![Billard v. Charlotte Catholic High School](https://www.aclu.dev/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
North Carolina
LGBTQ Rights
Billard v. Charlotte Catholic High School
Lonnie Billard worked at Charlotte Catholic High School for more than a decade – both as full-time drama and as a long-term substitute teacher – and has won numerous teaching awards, including teacher of the year. In October 2014, Lonnie wrote a Facebook post announcing that he and his long-time partner were getting married. Later that year, the school told Lonnie he could no longer work as a substitute teacher because his engagement and marriage to another man was contrary to the religious principles of the Catholic Church.
Aug 2024
Status: Ongoing
View case
North Carolina
Jan 2024
![Short v. Hartman](https://www.aclu.dev/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Short v. Hartman
Pretrial detainees cannot be punished because they have not been convicted of any crime. Yet until recently, courts have applied the Eighth Amendment’s heightened, subjective legal standard applicable to convicted prisoners to claims brought by pretrial detainees. The ACLU is working to ensure that courts apply a lower, objective standard to Fourteenth Amendment claims brought by pretrial detainees.
Status: Ongoing
View case
![Short v. Hartman](https://www.aclu.dev/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
North Carolina
Prisoners' Rights
Short v. Hartman
Pretrial detainees cannot be punished because they have not been convicted of any crime. Yet until recently, courts have applied the Eighth Amendment’s heightened, subjective legal standard applicable to convicted prisoners to claims brought by pretrial detainees. The ACLU is working to ensure that courts apply a lower, objective standard to Fourteenth Amendment claims brought by pretrial detainees.
Jan 2024
Status: Ongoing
View case
North Carolina
Jun 2023
![Hasson Bacote posing in a football jersey.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/07/Bacote-life-photos-TrFi-11535-11552-13-600x412.jpg)
North Carolina Racial Justice Act Litigation (North Carolina v. Hasson Bacote)
Hasson Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA), a first-of-its-kind law that allowed those sentenced to death to challenge their death sentences where race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the death penalty at the time of their trials. Earlier this year, Mr. Bacote put forth evidence during a two-week hearing which showed that race played an impermissible role in jury selection not only in his own case, but across North Carolina statewide. The evidence presented at this landmark hearing will have significant implications for the over 130 people sentenced to death who filed similar claims under the Racial Justice Act.
Status: Ongoing
View case
![Hasson Bacote posing in a football jersey.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/07/Bacote-life-photos-TrFi-11535-11552-13-600x412.jpg)
North Carolina
Capital Punishment
North Carolina Racial Justice Act Litigation (North Carolina v. Hasson Bacote)
Hasson Bacote is challenging his death sentence under the North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA), a first-of-its-kind law that allowed those sentenced to death to challenge their death sentences where race was a significant factor in decisions to seek or impose the death penalty at the time of their trials. Earlier this year, Mr. Bacote put forth evidence during a two-week hearing which showed that race played an impermissible role in jury selection not only in his own case, but across North Carolina statewide. The evidence presented at this landmark hearing will have significant implications for the over 130 people sentenced to death who filed similar claims under the Racial Justice Act.
Jun 2023
Status: Ongoing
View case
North Carolina
Jun 2023
![Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Stein](https://www.aclu.dev/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Stein
North Carolina health care providers filed a lawsuit on June 16, 2023 challenging several provisions in Senate Bill 20, a sweeping law that severely restricts access to abortion from the earliest stages of pregnancy and bans care after 12 weeks in nearly all circumstances. The case was filed one month after the North Carolina General Assembly rushed S.B. 20 through both chambers and overrode a veto from Gov. Roy Cooper to put it into law. The law — which was drafted and passed without any opportunity to amend — is scheduled to take effect on July 1.
Status: Ongoing
View case
![Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Stein](https://www.aclu.dev/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
North Carolina
Reproductive Freedom
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Stein
North Carolina health care providers filed a lawsuit on June 16, 2023 challenging several provisions in Senate Bill 20, a sweeping law that severely restricts access to abortion from the earliest stages of pregnancy and bans care after 12 weeks in nearly all circumstances. The case was filed one month after the North Carolina General Assembly rushed S.B. 20 through both chambers and overrode a veto from Gov. Roy Cooper to put it into law. The law — which was drafted and passed without any opportunity to amend — is scheduled to take effect on July 1.
Jun 2023
Status: Ongoing
View case