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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett
@blackmuse.bsky.social
1.2K followers 1.1K following 500 posts
Reporter for The Assembly NC, covering criminal justice issues, movie enthusiast, music obsessor, pop culture consumer and poetry lover.
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Jul 2
Prosecutors Made a Rare Concession in a Murder Case. But Will It Matter? www.theassemblync.com/politics/cri...
Was This High-Ranking Black Marine Wrongfully Convicted?
Ruben Wright was a high-ranking Black Marine before a 2006 murder conviction. His lawyers say a main theory presented at trial has collapsed.
www.theassemblync.com
blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 5d
A Revived Death Penalty? www.theassemblync.com/politics/cri...
A Revived Death Penalty?
Republican state legislators hope a new crime law will restart the death penalty. Legal experts say it won’t be that easy.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 6d
A Revived Death Penalty? www.theassemblync.com/politics/cri...
A Revived Death Penalty?
Republican state legislators hope a new crime law will restart the death penalty. Legal experts say it won’t be that easy.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 12d
Appeals Court Affirms Exoneration www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
Appeals Court Affirms Exoneration
The N.C. Court of Appeals has seemingly made it official that the men convicted as teenagers of killing NBA star Chris Paul’s grandfather are exonerated.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 12d
Appeals Court Affirms Exoneration www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
Appeals Court Affirms Exoneration
The N.C. Court of Appeals has seemingly made it official that the men convicted as teenagers of killing NBA star Chris Paul’s grandfather are exonerated.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 13d
WRAL-TV Fights to Succeed in a New Media World www.theassemblync.com/media/wral-t...
WRAL-TV Fights to Succeed in a New Media World
WRAL confronts a precarious future as locally owned television stations deal with declining viewership and advertising revenue.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 14d
Arduous and Unequal: The Fight to Get FEMA Housing Assistance After Helene www.theassemblync.com/environment/...
Arduous and Unequal: The Fight to Get FEMA Housing Assistance After Helene
A ProPublica and Assembly analysis of the more rural counties Helene pummeled found households that got the most aid had higher incomes.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 16d
The North Carolinians who lost their jobs for posting about Charlie Kirk
open.substack.com/pub/downfrom...
The North Carolinians who lost their jobs for posting about Charlie Kirk
Welcome back to Down from DC.
open.substack.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 18d
My latest: State Trooper Sued Over Alleged Assault www.theassemblync.com/politics/law...
State Trooper Sued Over Alleged Assault
The lawsuit alleges the trooper punched a man who had crashed into a utility pole in Greenville and was having an epileptic seizure.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 21d
A Fatal Stabbing and Its Aftermath www.theassemblync.com/politics/cha...
A Fatal Stabbing and Its Aftermath
Republicans have made a political cudgel of Iryna Zarutska’s killing. A draft crime bill expected this week may be more posturing than solutions.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 21d
Scoop from @jeffreybillman.bsky.social and me: A Fatal Stabbing and Its Aftermath www.theassemblync.com/politics/cha...
A Fatal Stabbing and Its Aftermath
Republicans have made a political cudgel of Iryna Zarutska’s killing. A draft crime bill expected this week may be more posturing than solutions.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · 24d
The Aftermath of an Exoneration www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
The Aftermath of an Exoneration
NBA star Chris Paul talked about his grandfather this week. He didn’t talk about the exoneration of the teens charged with killing him.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Sep 12
Hemp on Trial www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
Hemp on Trial
The state Supreme Court has three cases pending to determine whether the marijuana 'smell test' is valid grounds for a police search.
www.theassemblync.com
blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Sep 10
Private Prison in Eastern N.C. May Reopen for Immigration Detention www.theassemblync.com/immigration/...
Private Prison in Eastern N.C. May Reopen for Immigration Detention
Rivers Correctional Institution closed in 2021. Now its owners are in talks about reopening it to hold immigrants awaiting deportation.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Sep 8
My latest: Odor in the Court www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
Odor in the Court
Police still use odor to justify searches, even though legal hemp and illegal marijuana smell the same. The state Supreme Court now weighs in.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Sep 6
Pitt County Residents Rally Around a Native Son www.theassemblync.com/politics/cri...
Pitt County Residents Rally Around a Native Son
Two men wrongfully convicted of violent crimes came to support James Richardson's effort to overturn his conviction in a 2009 double murder.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Sep 5
How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/u...
How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart
www.nytimes.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Sep 4
My former colleague, @eringretzinger.bsky.social, has left @theassemblync.bsky.social with one last stunninghly-reported piece of journalism:
How the UNC System Shaped a Controversial Plan to Revamp College Accreditation www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...
How the UNC System Shaped a Controversial Plan to Revamp College Accreditation
Records show North Carolina played a significant role in founding the Commission for Public Higher Education. Some faculty are concerned.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Sep 2
5,000-seat venue would lift downtown Winston-Salem, developers say journalnow.com/news/local/g...
5,000-seat venue would lift downtown Winston-Salem, developers say
“Winston-Salem, in the last 20 years, 30 years, has spent way too much time lamenting what once was, instead of trying to imagine what could be,” Flow said.
journalnow.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Sep 1
Why I'm a journalist pursuing a Ph.D.
open.substack.com/pub/nicolefc...
Why I'm a journalist pursuing a Ph.D.
Last Fall I sat in my father's house and decided to pursue a Ph.D. in the Humanities. This is why I see my new studies as essential to my body of journalistic work in these times.
open.substack.com
blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Aug 31
Supreme Politics www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
Supreme Politics
State Supreme Court campaigns used to be functionally nonpartisan and removed from the political debates of the day. Not any more.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Aug 30
Lee Roberts' Long Game www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...
Lee Roberts' Long Game
The UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor is sticking with his big-picture vision endures despite federal uncertainties and campus clashes.
www.theassemblync.com
blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Aug 27
A New Way to Pay to Play www.theassemblync.com/politics/leg...
A New Way to Pay to Play
After a company that sells camera technology donated to a Republican fund, lawmakers passed legislation that could make it millions.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Aug 26
My latest with Anne Blythe: Supreme Politics www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
Supreme Politics
State Supreme Court campaigns used to be functionally nonpartisan and removed from the political debates of the day. Not any more.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Aug 26
Supreme Politics www.theassemblync.com/politics/cou...
Supreme Politics
State Supreme Court campaigns used to be functionally nonpartisan and removed from the political debates of the day. Not any more.
www.theassemblync.com
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blackmuse.bsky.social
Michael Hewlett @blackmuse.bsky.social · Aug 26
A Batson Rejection www.theassemblync.com/politics/cri...
A Batson Rejection
The state Supreme Court declined to review claims of jury discrimination even though the prosecutor admitted to considering race.
www.theassemblync.com
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