North Carolina Court of Appeals Archives - Student Press Law Center

NEWS RELEASE: Student privacy cannot obstruct public access to records of campus sexual-assault cases, SPLC tells N.C. court

September 29, 2017August 17, 2020 Student Press Law Center

UNC-Chapel Hill is misapplying the FERPA student privacy law to withhold public records that could help journalists shed light on the way the university does, or does not, punish students found liable for sexual assault, an SPLC legal brief argues.

Minutes of school-board personnel discussions can be released for public inspection, N.C. court rules

News

July 24, 2015September 5, 2018 Frank LoMonte

A North Carolina school board tried to withhold the minutes of a closed-door discussion about the school superintendent's employment contract, claiming the minutes were a "personnel record." But a state appeals court disagreed. The ruling is a reminder that, despite what school lawyers often insist, not everything about personnel decisions is off-limits to journalists' scrutiny.