The Legal Eagle Review

Every year, thousands of North Carolina citizens suffer significant financial loss when they find that they are a victim of a scam, identity theft, or both. Consumers are at even greater risk of these threats during the holiday season. So as the holiday season approaches, we wanted to talk about how people can protect themselves from scams and identity theft, and stay safe on the internet. Joining us for this discussion are Attorney Hugh Harris, Outreach & Policy Counsel for the Public Protection Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice, and Natalie Wood, Outreach Specialist with the North Carolina Department of Justice.

We talk with Dorothy Hairston Mitchell, Clinical Assistant Professor at NCCU School of Law and the Supervising Attorney of the NCCU Law Juvenile Law Clinic, and Austine Long, Juvenile Project Attorney with the North Carolina Office of the Juvenile Defender about juvenile justice including Raise the Age legislation in North Carolina.

On this show, we talk about African American veterans and the vital role they played in the civil rights movement with Duke University History Professor Adriane Lentz-Smith, author of “Freedom Struggles: African Americans and WWI.”

And on October 8, 2019, NCCU Law Alum Ya Lui became the first Asian American elected to the Cary Town Council. Dr. Lui talks about her decision to run, her campaign, and her historic win.

On the second Monday in October, many cities and states celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, instead of the federally recognized but controversial Columbus Day holiday. Indigenous Peoples' Day has been officially recognized in North Carolina since 2017 when Gov. Cooper issued a proclamation declaring the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day in the state. He has issued a proclamation every year. North Carolina is home to more than 122,000 American Indians and has eight historic tribes. On this show, we talk about the rich culture of Native Americans in the state and the legal issues facing their communities with guests Greg Richardson, Executive Director of the NC Commission of Indian Affairs, Native American attorney Heather McMillan Nakai, and Joshua Richardson, third-year law student, SBA President, and President of the Native American Law Students Association.

In this episode, we have a discussion with Dr. Deondra Rose about her book “Citizens by Degree: Higher Education Policy and the Changing Gender Dynamics of American Citizenship.” Dr. Rose is an Assistant Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy with a secondary appointment in the Department of Political Science. Also, joining the discussion is NCCU Law professor and Mayor of Carrboro, N.C., Lydia Lavelle.

The NCCU Theatre Department is putting on a production of “A Need Fulfilled,” which tells the story of the 600 brave black women who fought for the right to serve their country as nurses in World War II. The musical drama, first performed at NCCU in spring 2019, was written and directed by NCCU Theatre Professor Arthur M. Reese. On this show, we talk with Professor Reese about the play and the NCCU Theatre Department.

The CROWN Act stands for Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural Hair Act. And the recently enacted California CROWN Act makes it not only unlawful for employers and schools to ban natural and protective hairstyles African descendants commonly wear, but it also recognizes that these grooming policies constitute racial discrimination. On this show, we talk about the harms associated with race-based hair discrimination and efforts to enact the CROWN Act throughout the country with Professor Wendy Greene, Professor of Law at Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law in Philadelphia and one of the nation’s leading scholars (if not the leading scholar) on grooming code discrimination.

The Reconstruction era is typically defined as that period starting at 1865 with the ratification of the 13th Amendment and ending in 1877 with the disputed presidential election of Rutherford B. Hayes and the Compromise of 1877. But so often in school, that time period in our nation’s history is glossed over. What do we really know about Reconstruction? And how can studying that period help us better understand where we are today as a county? On this show, we talk with Attorney James Williams, retired Orange County Chief Public Defender and the organizer of an upcoming symposium on the Reconstruction period, and Dr. William Sturkey, Professor of History at UNC Chapel Hill, and author of a recently published book titled “Hattiesburg: An American City in Black and White.”

The mission of North Carolina Central University School of Law is to provide high quality, personalized, practice-oriented, and affordable legal education to historically underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds to increase diversity in the legal profession. NCCU Law graduates are encouraged and empowered to become highly competent and socially responsible lawyers and leaders committed to public service and to meeting the needs of underserved communities. This mission helps NCCU Law and its graduates create a more just society. Many NCCU Law alums are living the mission and using the legal training they received at NCCU Law to serve the community. On this show, we talked with one such alum -- Judge Ashleigh Parker Dunston. In 2017, only five years after graduating from law school, Judge Dunston was appointed by the governor to the District Court bench in Wake County, NC. Judge Dunston, who was 30 at the time of her appointment, was only the third and the youngest African American female District Court Judge in Wake County history.