By: Briscoe Robinette

On Monday, August 23rd, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Full approval means the vaccine has passed through the same intense testing and review as other established vaccines instead of the shortened process utilized for the vaccine’s initial emergency approval. Some experts have hailed the full approval as “an important confidence-builder” for those hesitant about receiving the vaccine, while others argue that the full approval won’t lead to as large an increase in vaccination rates as some hope. However, many experts do agree that the approval has the potential to spark a large number of vaccine mandates by both employers and universities, especially considering the spike in cases caused by the delta variant.

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By: Caroline Hoover

I campaigned and was appointed as one of two youth representatives for the western section of the North Carolina Juvenile Crime Prevention Council in 2019. Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils (“JCPCs”) are a division of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. On August 29, 2019, I received my first official email affiliated with the position, entitled ““Teen Court and More” Strategic Planning Session”.

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By: Briscoe Robinette

As COVID-19 vaccines become increasingly available, there is hope for some semblance of normalcy returning to the lives of citizens. However, as colleges and universities look towards planning a safe return for all students this upcoming fall semester, the debate over mandated COVID-19 vaccinations arises. Many U.S. universities have already declared that students must be fully vaccinated in order to return to campus.

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By: Briscoe Robinette

Can social media companies, such as Snapchat, be held liable for accidents that occur while using their platforms? As social media becomes increasingly popular, especially with younger age groups, danger lies in their drive to exponentially increase the number of active daily users. Social media apps are largely meant to gain the attention and “likes” of others, causing many users to behave differently to gain more followers and interact with others on the social media platforms.

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Baylor capped off an emphatic run through the Final Four on Monday night to secure the university’s first NCAA national championship in men’s basketball. But all is not lost for the other three teams that made the 2021 Final Four. Each team that advanced to the milestone earned for its school an $8.3 Million payout, according to Will Hobson’s report for the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, a class action antitrust case is before the Supreme Court of the United States that has the potential to shape the future relationship between student-athletes and the NCAA. That’s because a starkly disproportionate and indirect share of the $8.3 Million will reach the hands of the players who earned it. The Sherman Act and related antitrust laws exist to preserve the nation’s free marketplace. United States v. Topco Assocs., Inc., 405 U.S. 596, 610 (1972). Under those laws, “the freedom guaranteed each and every business, no matter how small, is the freedom to compete – to assert with vigor, imagination, devotion, and ingenuity whatever economic muscle it can muster.” Id. An antitrust case at its core is to enjoin one market participant from imposing an unreasonable restraint on trade for others in the relevant market.

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Roy Williams repeated in his retirement speech what he has often said about Dean Smith: “Every day, I tried to make him proud.” It’s easy to say basketball is just a game, to say that any sport is just a game, but the technicality of that definition is also reductive. Rule 1 of the Olympic Charter explains its goal is “to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport.” With Dean Smith’s roadmap always by his side, Coach Williams led the Carolina basketball program with a fervent commitment to the values that shape our lives: to be grateful, humble, and kind. He did that through the manner in which he taught young men the game of basketball, using his position as a coach and the power of sport to build a more peaceful and better world. For that, Roy Williams made Dean Smith proud each and every day he was the head men’s basketball coach at UNC. He did his job, and I’ll be forever thankful.

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A helicopter with nine people aboard crashed into the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains this time last year. All nine individuals who were on the helicopter instantly died, including Kobe Bryant and his daughter. Since then, the family members left behind have filed a flurry of lawsuits that leave questions about what happened and who’s at fault unanswered.

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A North Carolina high school English teacher published a novel in 2016 set in the outer banks of North Carolina, where a group of brooding teenagers prevail against perilous odds to recover hidden treasure from a famous shipwreck. Four years later, Netflix released and distributed the first season of The Outer Banks, a show set in the outer banks of North Carolina, where a group of brooding teenagers prevail against perilous odds to recover hidden treasure from a famous shipwreck.

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Rare bipartisan advocacy resulted in significant progress for criminal justice reform in North Carolina once Governor Cooper signed two legislative bills into law at end of June. House Bill 511, the First Step Act, provides judges wiggle room in levying sentences for qualifying criminal defendants charged with drug trafficking. Meanwhile, Senate Bill 562, the Second Chance Act, enhances the ability for individuals to expunge their criminal records.

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On April 13, 2020, an unnamed student filed a class action against Liberty University that seeks to recover fees for services the university failed to provide after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic forced the school to close or suspend the vast majority of its operations.

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