About this Event
The First Amendment protects five freedoms: speech, press, religion, assembly and petition. North Carolinians can use them every day. They speak at school board meetings, consume local news to understand what’s happening, worship where they choose, and march and sign petitions. But across the country, these rights face pressure in courtrooms, on campuses, in newsrooms and in public meetings.
What does that pressure look like here in North Carolina? How are our freedoms holding up, and what comes next?
Join the statewide nonprofit newsroom NC Local to hear from experts and First Amendment leaders who provide insight and perspectives on the issues shaping our state. We’ll bring together attorneys, advocates, journalists and policy leaders from across the political spectrum for a frank, nonpartisan conversation. We’ll also hear results from the Freedom Forum’s State of the First Amendment Survey. Bring your questions—we’ll save time for the audience!
Moderator Deborah Holt Noel, host of NC Weekend on PBS NC and longtime host and executive producer of Black Issues Forum
Speakers include:
- Israel Balderas, First Amendment attorney and assistant professor of journalism at Elon University. He is a former broadcast journalist and served as national treasurer of the Society of Professional Journalists and chair of its Legal Defense Fund.
- Kevin Goldberg, vice president and First Amendment expert, The Freedom Forum
- Kristi Graunke, legal director, ACLU of North Carolina
- Michael Hewlett, criminal justice reporter, The Assembly
- John Hood, president of the John William Pope Foundation, cofounder and former president of the John Locke Foundation, and longtime North Carolina political columnist
- C. Amanda Martin, longtime North Carolina press attorney and director of Duke Law's First Amendment Clinic
- Robert Shibley, special counsel for campus advocacy, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)
When: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6–7:30 p.m.
Where: McKimmon Conference and Training Center, NC State University, 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh
Parking: Free parking in the McKimmon Center lot
Free. Registration requested.
Hosted by NC Local with support from The Freedom Forum. This is a nonpartisan event.
NC Local is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization. We help people in all 100 North Carolina counties understand how statewide issues and government decisions affect their communities.
Event venue & nearby stays
The McKimmon Conference and Training Center at NC State, 1101 Gorman St, Raleigh, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.