[1] Because "[t]the North Carolina Constitution expresses the will of the people of [the] State," it is "the supreme law of the land.
duty to determine whether challenged acts of the General Assembly violate the constitution,”[4] by “constru[ing] and appl[ying] the provisions of” that document “with finality.” To determine whether a statute violates the North Carolina Constitution, a court looks to the text and “historical context” of the “applicable constitutional provision” and subsequent court decisions interpreting that text and history.
[6] Both are compiled and published by the Rules Division of the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings.
[8] Slip opinions are then printed with headnotes and other finding aids in soft-bound books called Advance Sheets and online, and are given citations to the official reports.
[9] Local governments are created by acts of the General Assembly, which define their boundaries and approve their charters.
[10] These charters can be changed by legislative action or, in certain cases, by home rule amendments adopted by the local governments.