IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA No. 142PA18 Filed 1 May 2020 DTH MEDIA CORPORATION, CAPITOL BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC., THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER PUBLISHING COMPANY, and THE DURHAM HERALD COMPANY v. CAROL L. FOLT, in her official capacity as Chancellor of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and GAVIN YOUNG, in his official capacity as Senior Director of Public Records for The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill On discretionary review pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-31 from the decision of a unanimous panel of the Court of Appeals, 259 N.C. App. 61, 816 S.E.2d 518 (2018), reversing a judgment entered on 9 May 2017 by Judge Allen Baddour in Superior Court, Wake County. Heard in the Supreme Court on 27 August 2019. Stevens Martin Vaughn & Tadyck, PLLC, by Hugh Stevens for plaintiff- appellees. J.D. Jones Law, PLLC, by Jonathan D. Jones for Student Press Law Center and Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, amici curiae. Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General, by Stephanie A. Brennan, Special Deputy Attorney General, and Matthew Burke, Solicitor General Fellow, for defendant- appellant. MORGAN, Justice. This matter presents questions which require this Court to interpret the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the North Carolina Public Records Act (the Public Records Act) in order to determine whether officials of DTH MEDIA CORP. V. FOLT Opinion of the Court The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH or University) are required to release, as public records, disciplinary records of its students who have been found to have violated UNC-CH’s sexual assault policy. The Court of Appeals unanimously determined that such records are subject to mandatory disclosure. We affirm. Factual and Procedural Background This case arises out of a dispute between various news organizations and officials of UNC-CH’s administration. Plaintiffs DTH Media Corporation; Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc.; The Charlotte Observer Publishing Company; and The Durham Herald Company (collectively, plaintiffs) are news organizations based in North Carolina which regularly report on matters regarding UNC-CH. Defendants are Carol L. Folt, the former Chancellor of UNC-CH and Gavin Young, the Senior Director of Public Records of UNC-CH (collectively, defendants). Plaintiffs brought this legal action against defendants in the defendants’ official capacities for alleged violations of the Public Records Act. The Act was enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly in order to make public records readily available because they “are the property of the people.” See N.C.G.S. §§ 132-1 to -11 (2017). Defendants contend that they are prohibited from complying with the Public Records Act in light of applicable provisions of FERPA. The parties stipulated to the following facts, which were adopted by the lower courts and utilized in their respective determinations in the controversy prior to this Court’s involvement. -2- DTH MEDIA CORP. V. FOLT Opinion of the Court Since 2014, UNC-CH has adhered to its comprehensive “Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct” that includes prohibitions on, and potential punishments for, sexual-based and gender-based harassment and violence. In a letter ...
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