It is election season, so anything related to voting is big news. WRAL reports here that “[f]ederal prosecutors are accusing 18 people of being immigrants who illegally voted in North Carolina during past elections—charges that come less than a month after they announced similar charges for a dozen others.” The prosecutions apparently are based on information provided by state election officials. According to Sam Hayes, the Executive Director of the State Board of Elections, the state gave the FBI information about more than the 30 people who have been charged so far, so additional charges may be possible.
Kalshi and its founders charged with gambling crimes in Utah. According to an Ars Technica story available here, the Attorney General of Utah has filed “13 felony charges and one misdemeanor for violating gambling laws” against prediction market Kalshi and its two co-founders. Utah’s constitution and statutes strictly prohibit gambling, and the AG described Kalshi as a “casino.” The Trump Administration, through the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission, has filed a civil suit attempting to block Utah’s criminal prosecution, on the theory that Congress has authorized the CFTC to regulate prediction markets and thereby preempted state law.
Wake DA expects criminal charges in investigation of NC State fraternity hazing. The News & Observer reported here that NC State police received “an anonymous report that an ‘an unspecified fraternity’ was hazing its members using date rape drugs.” Subsequently, the NC State chapter of the Sigma Nu fraternity has been suspended and has become the focus of campus and criminal investigations. WRAL recently quoted Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman as saying “we’re very early on in this process, but I would anticipate that there will be some criminal charges out of this case.” The WRAL story can be found here.
Speaking of prosecutors . . . Ron Wright, a professor at the Wake Forest University School of Law – and a former prosecutor himself – has this article up on The Conversation, arguing that voters may focus on high-profile races for Congress or governor but should consider that “a race near the bottom of the ballot – for the chief prosecutor in their local district – will probably affect the voters’ lives more directly.” Professor Wright emphasizes the amount of discretion prosecutors exercise and the major differences in prosecutorial philosophy among candidates.
Charlotte curfew to take effect soon. WBTV reports here that Charlotte will soon implement a juvenile curfew on a trial basis. The “pilot program requires anyone under the age of 18 in the city to be off the streets from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m., with exceptions for work, school events, or being out with adult supervision.” The goal is to prevent street takeovers and other misconduct. The city plans to collect data on the impact of the curfew and re-assess before the pilot curfew expires on August 31, 2027.
Study: domestic violence contributes to 42 person of violent crimes. So says the Criminal Justice Analysis Center, part of the NC Department of Public Safety, in a new report available here. Domestic violence accounts for “the majority of murders of women and girls in the state and more than half of reported kidnappings and simple assaults,” for a total of over 63,000 violent crimes annually.
Compensation for wrongful convictions sounds good but can get complicated. At least, so says this article from The Marshall Project, focusing on the experience of two claimants in Missouri. It seems that there is some dispute over whether one of the individuals was actually deemed innocent, as opposed to merely having his conviction set aside based on legal errors. Furthermore, the state and the claimants disagree over whether the new compensation law applies to individuals convicted before the law took effect.
Is it okay for a member of the appellate division to call a legislator to suggest changes to laws? That’s the basic question presented by this article in The Assembly, which reports that Sarah Stevens, a former legislator and current candidate for the Supreme Court of North Carolina, would sometimes receive calls from appellate jurists suggesting changes or improvements to statutes. Boiling down what some of the individuals interviewed for the story said: on the one hand, it’s good for each branch of government to stay in its lane, but on the other hand, judicial officials are citizens too and have a right to talk to legislators about legal changes they’d like to see.
eCourts settlement on the horizon? In a news roundup three weeks ago, I noted that there was a class action lawsuit against Tyler Technologies concerning problems that allegedly arose during the rollout of eCourts and that allegedly led to unnecessary and inappropriate arrests. At that time, the situation was confusing because court filings suggested that the case was settled, but the plaintiffs had just filed a new complaint, which suggested that it wasn’t settled after all. But wait! Maybe it has actually settled! WRAL reports here that “[a] proposed class-action settlement could compensate people who were wrongly arrested or jailed too long because of errors in North Carolina's eCourts system. According to court documents, Tyler Technologies, the company behind North Carolina's eCourts system, would set aside up to $1.5 million for claims while denying any wrongdoing.”
Police called on three-year-old soccer star? That’s what I thought based on this ESPN story, which reports that “[a] Florida youth soccer organizer called police this past weekend to remove the family of a 3-year-old boy who the organizer said was pushing other players.” The story has blown up on the internet and may be a little more complicated than that, with the boy’s family saying that organizers wanted him out of the league because he was too good, and other commenters suggesting that the boy’s parents may have provoked conflict with other parents. I spent some time watching videos of little Nevada Neymar Pierre playing soccer and reached the following conclusions: (1) he is a cute little guy, (2) he is shockingly skilled for his age and is fun to watch, (3) I didn’t see any pushing, (4) his dominant play could be a bit discouraging for the other kids, and (5) the officers who responded to the call were incredibly calm, kind, and patient.
