News about crime, criminal justice, and the courts often tends towards the gloomy, so I’m going to start this week with some positive news. The Carolina Journal has a story noting that “[c]rime in North Carolina public schools is down for the third consecutive year, dipping 6.6% . . . according to . . . the NC Department of Public Instruction.” Unfortunately, “incidents involving assault on school personnel and bomb threats increased,” and crime levels remain higher than they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
DHS funding may soon run out due to stalemate over ICE reforms. A partial government shutdown was averted this week, but funding for the Department of Homeland security was extended by just a couple of weeks. The idea was that Democrats and Republicans in Congress would use that time to agree on a longer-term funding measure that would include reforms to the practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. However, yesterday the Associated Press ran this story, reporting that the parties are at odds over potential reforms. Democrats have a list of ten changes they’d like to see in ICE’s operations, including prohibiting officers from wearing masks, “a requirement for judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use of force standards and a stop to racial profiling.” Republicans see at least some of the proposals as “unrealistic” and as an overreach by Democrats. DHS is currently funded until February 14. If a new funding bill does not pass, the agency would need to curtail operations – potentially including reduced TSA staffing that could cause travel problems similar to those seen during the most recent shutdown.
Gov. Stein issues new executive order on mental health and criminal justice. Governor Josh Stein issued an executive order yesterday. It is entitled Protecting North Carolinians Through Stronger Behavioral Health and Criminal Justice Systems. Among other things, it:
- Directs the Office of State Human Resources to help the Departments of Adult Correction and Public Safety in “addressing shortages of state agency staff critical to behavioral health and public safety”
- Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to encourage private insurers to cover mental health services, to make recommendation for “standardizing and improving the behavioral health crisis system across North Carolina,” and to work to integrate mental health professionals in 911 centers and law enforcement agencies
- Directs DHHS to convene “a working group to recommend reforms to involuntary commitment” proceedings
- Directs DHHS to expand the TASC substance abuse program in correctional facilities
The order promotes some of the Governor’s long-standing ideas for improving the justice system. It also appears to be, at least in part, a response to recent high-profile incidents in which individuals with serious mental illnesses committed terrible crimes. The executive order does not involve any new funding for the priorities it identifies, though the Governor expressed optimism that he and legislative leaders are aligned in this area.
Epstein file fallout continues. As reporters and others continue to work their way through the recently-released trove of documents related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, prominent figures have found themselves under scrutiny. To list just a few examples:
- The Associated Press reports that “Brad Karp, chairman of one of the country’s most prestigious law firms, has resigned from his position after the release of emails” between Karp and Epstein, including some concerning motions the firm was drafting concerning Epstein’s Florida criminal case.
- USA Today reports that physician and longevity influencer Peter Attia “came up over 1,700 times in the latest batch of Epstein files . . . include[ing] crude exchanges between Attia and the convicted sex offender about female genitalia and emails that suggest the self-proclaimed longevity expert may have been with Epstein while his wife was alone with their son in the hospital after a near-fatal incident.” CBS has pulled a 60 Minutes interview with Attia in response. Attia denies involvement in any criminal conduct.
- USA Today further addresses ties between Bill Gates and Epstein; Gates says that he regrets the time he spent with Epstein, but that all of it was around raising money for global health.
Also Epstein-related, though not specific to the recent release of files, the Associated Press reports that former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have “finalized an agreement with House Republicans Tuesday to testify in a House investigation into [Epstein] this month, bowing to the threat of a contempt of Congress vote against them.”
Hedingham shooter’s sentencing underway. Several weeks ago, Austin Thompson pled guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and other crimes in connection with a shooting spree he undertook in the Hedingham neighborhood of Raleigh in 2022. Thompson, who was 15 years old at the time, shot his brother in the head, stabbed him repeatedly when he did not die from the gunshot, then left his home, killed four neighbors and injured others. His sentencing hearing began this week and is expected to continue into next week. Because of his age, Thompson is not eligible for the death penalty. The extended sentencing proceedings are taking place because, under G.S. 15A-1340.19B(a)(2), when an individual who was under 18 at the time of the crime is convicted of first-degree murder, “the court shall conduct a hearing to determine whether the defendant should be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole . . . or a lesser sentence of life imprisonment with parole [eligibility after 25 years].” The other crimes to which Thompson pled guilty carry their own sentences, and his total maximum exposure is five life sentences plus more than a thousand months in prison. You can read one of WRAL’s many stories about the case for additional detail.
United States Department of Justice reduces its capacity to investigate police. This Reuters story, based on interviews with former Justice Department attorneys, finds that the “unit responsible for prosecuting potential wrongdoing by law enforcement . . . has lost two-thirds of its prosecutors and is under orders to scale back its investigations of excessive force . . . . The unit, which typically plays a leading role in reviewing cases nationwide in which law enforcement officers appear to violate people’s rights, has lost significant capacity to pursue investigations because of staff departures and new guidance under President Donald Trump’s administration curtailing its mandate.”
Would-be Trump assassin sentenced to life in prison. According to this CBS News story, a rather strange sentencing hearing marked the end of a rather strange federal criminal case against “Ryan Routh, the man convicted of attempting to assassinate President Trump at his Florida golf course in 2024.” Routh was convicted of multiple federal felonies last fall after unsuccessfully representing himself at trial. At this week’s sentencing, when the presiding judge offered Routh “the opportunity to make a statement . . . he pulled out a prepared 20-page essay. He tried to read the document in its entirety, but was stopped several times due to a lack of relevance.” Routh apparently “compared himself to Palestinian political prisoners, people in Gaza and Ukraine, and kidnap victims around the world, statements that [the judge] referred to as not ‘helpful.’” Routh further stated that “he had contributed to the United States with ‘caring actions’ and asked to be placed in a federal prison in a state that allows for assisted suicide,” a request that the judge did not address in the course of imposing a life sentence.
It looks like the weekend will be cold, but not snowy. Stay safe and warm, and keep your fingers crossed for the schools operating on normal schedules next week!
