North Carolina

A Charlotte Observer religion reporter recently arrested while covering a "Moral Mondays" protest before the Raleigh General Assembly will fight to have the charges dropped at his August court date.

Veteran reporter Tim Funk was arrested on June 10 and charged with trespassing and failure to disperse. Funk was one of over 80 people arrested at the protest that day. The demonstration was part of a weekly protest led by the North Carolina NAACP that began in April after the legislature passed a series of bills that slashed benefits for citizens and raised taxes.

A large, well-trained law enforcement presence and fewer, more peaceful protesters allowed the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. to run smoothly and prevented journalists’ arrests, according to police and lawyers who followed the events.

A North Carolina appellate court reversed part of a lower court's decision on Tuesday that could reignite a county judge's defamation lawsuit against a citizen activist for statements he made on Facebook criticizing sitting judges' support of a state senatorial candidate. The court held the activist was not constitutionality protected for making false statements, even if he claimed they were his personal opinion.

A coalition of media groups challenged restrictions on media coverage in an upcoming murder trial in North Carolina Superior Court. The restrictions limit local media's coverage of police and FBI witnesses, as well as media access to areas inside and outside of the court. They are in response to motions from the prosecution and the court's order on its own motion.

A North Carolina judge has ordered an online-news editor to produce the names of six anonymous posters who allegedly posted defamatory comments on his website, although one of them identified himself this morning on a local AM radio station.

A North Carolina state judge has sealed the deposition of former presidential candidate John Edwards' mistress for at least 45 days, The Charlotte Observer reported.

Rielle Hunter sued former Edwards aide Andrew Young and his wife Cheri for the return of an alleged sex tape of Rielle and Edwards.

A federal judge in North Carolina said that the state's media outlets will not have to turn over more than two years' worth of stories and reader comments about a murder in response to a subpoena from the accused killer, The Newsroom Law Blog reported.

A North Carolina newspaper editor will fight a subpoena for his notes and testimony in an obstruction of justice case against a county sheriff, news@norman reported.