Bob Farb’s Arrest, Search, and Investigation in North Carolina for years has been an indispensable resource for people who work in the North Carolina criminal justice system. The book is a comprehensive treatment of the law governing the investigation of criminal offenses in our state and is widely relied upon by law enforcement officers, district attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, and judges.
Reflecting the qualities that made Bob an exemplary faculty member at the School of Government, the book combines meticulous detail with clear writing to provide a resource that is as suited to a quick reference as it is a deep dive. It is within arm’s reach of the desks of every criminal law attorney at the School of Government, and when we get questions about arrest or the investigation of criminal offenses it usually is our resource of first resort.
As a reader of this blog, you likely knew all of that, and it also is likely that you own or have access to the most recent fifth edition of the book, published in 2016. What you may not know is that the 2018 Cumulative Supplement to ASI recently was released and is available for purchase by itself or as part of a discounted package with the main text. Jeff Welty and I authored the new supplement.
The 2018 supplement is the first update of the most recent edition of the book and covers relevant developments in the criminal law from the time of publication of the main text through July 1, 2018. From the North Carolina General Assembly to the United States Supreme Court, the supplement covers not only state legislative changes but also appellate case law at the state and federal level.
While Bob didn’t write the supplement due to his retirement from the School last year, we tried our best to borrow his style and follow his example, striving to make the supplement legally comprehensive and suitable for use by a wide audience of readers. To make sure we were doing it correctly, we asked Bob to review the entire publication and, as you would expect, he generously obliged. We certainly appreciate that review and the supplement is better for it.
If you use ASI, and we know many of you do, we think that the 2018 Cumulative Supplement will be a valuable addition to your bookshelf.