» Civil Rights

Yesterday, Patterson Harkavy filed suit on behalf of Julian Betton, a Myrtle Beach man shot nine times by local law enforcement officers in his own home. The shooting left Mr. Betton in a coma for six weeks; he is now permanently paralyzed from the w… Read More

In 1978, Joseph Sledge was wrongfully convicted of a dual murder. On January 23, 2015, thanks to the work of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, a three-judge panel unanimously found that Mr. Sledge was innocent. Mr. Sledge served 37 years… Read More

Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor a plaintiff filing suit over a racially hostile work environment. The opinion contains an important discussion of employers’ responsibility to combat hostile work environments create… Read More

Earlier this week, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Patterson Harkavy’s clients, finding that the state’s 2013 repeal of teacher tenure violated the North Carolina Constitution and the United States Constitution. For over for… Read More

Yesterday, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a published opinion in favor of Narendra Ghosh’s client Kenneth Leak. The Court vacated Mr. Leak’s conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon, finding that it was obtained in a… Read More

Yesterday afternoon, the Fourth Circuit issued an en banc decision supporting the rights of workplace harassment victims. See Boyer-Liberto v. Fountainebleau Corporation, No. 13-1473 (May 7, 2015). The opinion offers important insight into what level… Read More

Yesterday, Patterson Harkavy attorney Burton Craige appeared before the Supreme Court of North Carolina, arguing that the state’s recently-enacted private school voucher scheme violates the North Carolina Constitution. The voucher scheme uses t… Read More

Yesterday, Patterson Harkavy filed suit against the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office on behalf of former deputy sheriff Jeffrey Randleman. The suit alleges that Mr. Randleman served as a law enforcement officer in the sheriff’s office for 22… Read More