A city resident forwards an e-mail to Councilwoman Leslie Knope. The e-mail accuses certain other city council members of improper conduct. Councilwoman Knope opens the e-mail on her home computer, which is set up to remotely log in to her public e-mail account. Councilwoman Knope later announces at a public meeting that she has received a copy of the e-mail and that the e-mail purportedly was authored by “Tom Haverford and April Ludgate.” The councilwoman also briefly discusses the contents of the e-mail.

In my last two posts (here and here), I’ve discussed the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy.  Purchasing Officer Scarecrow has just finished reviewing the … Read more

In my last two posts (here and here), I’ve discussed the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy.  Purchasing Officer Scarecrow has just finished reviewing the Council’s goals for the policy: reducing local unemployment, supporting local businesses, increasing Emerald City’s

In my last two posts (here and here), I’ve discussed the efforts of the City Council of Emerald City, North Carolina, to support its local businesses by adopting a local preference policy.  Purchasing Officer Scarecrow has just finished reviewing the Council’s goals for the policy: reducing local unemployment, supporting local businesses, increasing Emerald City’s

[Update: in 2015, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the First Amendment did not protect Shirvell’s conduct, based on reasoning similar to that discussed below.] What are the limits of First Amendment protection for government employees?  Consider this somewhat … Read more

[11/8/10 Update:  Andrew Shirvell has been fired for misuse of of state resources, conduct not protected by the First Amendment, and false statements made during the internal investigation of the matter.] What are the limits of First Amendment protection for government employees?  Consider this somewhat surreal story making recent headlines.

[11/8/10 Update:  Andrew Shirvell has been fired for misuse of of state resources, conduct not protected by the First Amendment, and false statements made during the internal investigation of the matter.] What are the limits of First Amendment protection for government employees?  Consider this somewhat surreal story making recent headlines.

UPDATE September 2013:  The North Carolina supreme court subsequently ruled that counties do not have statutory authority to impose school impact fees. That 2012 case is discussed here. The population of Partition County has grown dramatically over the past several … Read more

UPDATE 2013: This blog has been updated to reflect legislative changes made in S.L. 2013-413. Many local governments across the state provide some form of solid waste services for their citizens. Under the public enterprise statutes, counties and municipalities have … Read more

UPDATE 2013: This blog has been updated to reflect legislative changes made in S.L. 2013-413. Many local governments across the state provide some form of solid waste services for their citizens. Under the public enterprise statutes, counties and municipalities have largely coextensive authority to provide both collection and disposal services, although counties typically support landfills or other disposal facilities, whereas municipalities usually provide the collection services.