Last month, the NC Judicial College offered our first criminal legal update via Zoom. Many of you tuned in and said you liked it. So we followed up two weeks later with another. Some of you have said we should make this a thing. We’re not ready to say this is forever just yet, but we like the way things are going. So please join us again this Friday for our third Zoom update in the time of COVID-19. And we will commit right now to offering another criminal legal update on Friday, May 8. Here are the details for joining us this week:
Shea Denning
Filing Deadlines Further Extended to Combat COVID-19; Colloquy and Form Available for Remote Proceedings
Chief Justice Cheri Beasley entered an order yesterday extending until June 1, 2020 the time and periods of limitations for documents and papers due to be filed and acts due to be done in the trial courts. The Chief Justice previously had extended to April 17, 2020 the deadline for filings, periods of limitation and other acts. She further extended those deadlines based on predictions that late April “may be the apex of the [COVID-19] outbreak in North Carolina.”
April 2 Emergency Directives Require Continuances, Authorize Remote Proceedings, and Extend Time to Pay
Chief Justice Cheri Beasley entered an order last Thursday, April 2, 2020, imposing emergency directives that were immediately effective and that affect criminal cases.
Legal authority. The Chief Justice’s order was entered pursuant to G.S. 7A-39(b)(2), which permits the Chief Justice, after determining or declaring that catastrophic conditions exist in one or more counties of the state, to issue emergency directives necessary to ensure the continuing operation of essential trial or appellate court functions. Such directives are effective notwithstanding any other provision of law.
Stay-At-Home Orders, Charges, and Stops
The Governor ordered individuals in North Carolina to stay at home and non-essential business operations to cease beginning at 5 p.m. Monday, March 30, 2020. The order, Executive Order No. 121, remains in effect for thirty days from that date. Here are a few things to know about the order and its enforcement.
New Executive Orders Affect DMV Operations, Prohibit Certain Gatherings of More than 50 People, and Direct Entertainment Facilities and Hair Salons to Close
The Governor issued Executive Order No. 119 on Friday, which orders the closure of many Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Driver License Offices, the postponement of certain DMV hearings, and the suspension of road tests for newly licensed drivers. Today, the Governor issued Executive Order No. 120, which prohibits mass gatherings of more than 50 people, orders the closure of entertainment facilities and personal care and grooming businesses, and extends the closure of public schools through May 15, 2020.
Craving a Bit of the Regular Fare? Tune In for a Criminal Law Update
Like everyone else, our work at the School of Government has been altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. We have written, and will continue to write, about executive orders from the Governor, directives from the Chief Justice, and other pandemic-related issues. But, like many of you, our regular nonpandemic-related work continues. The appellate courts continue to decide cases, and questions about how those cases apply to ongoing litigation still arise.
We usually discuss recent case law with criminal law practitioners at conferences held around the state. Right now, those aren’t happening. For those of you who are craving a bit of the regular fare, we are offering a special Friday feature. Jamie Markham, Jonathan Holbrook, and I will host an online forum this Friday, March 27, 2020, at 1 p.m. to talk about recent criminal law decisions by our appellate courts. Read on for instructions on how you can tune in to our hour-long program.
Bars Shuttered, Restaurants Emptied, and Deadlines Extended to Combat Spread of COVID-19
Executive Order 118. Governor Cooper issued Executive Order 118 on Tuesday, directing bars to close and restricting restaurants to selling food only for carry-out, drive through, delivery, and onsite consumption in outdoor seating areas, subject to mass gathering seating restrictions. Restaurants are broadly defined to include permitted food establishments, cafeterias, food halls, dining halls, food … Read more
Court Is Limited and Mass Gatherings Are Prohibited to Limit Spread of COVID-19
On Friday, Chief Justice Cheri Beasley entered two emergency directives to reduce the spread of infection from COVID-19. On Saturday, Governor Roy Cooper entered an executive order prohibiting mass gatherings and ordering the statewide closure of public schools.
Proms and PBTs
Spring is only a few weeks away. Soon preparation will begin for the rites of the season, among them pruning, planting, and, of course, prom.
A few weeks ago, I chaperoned a dance at my son’s high school. (I elected not to tell him that I was chaperoning, so you can imagine his reaction when he saw me there. For more about that, please check out my parenting blog.) When I walked into the gymnasium, I saw tables laden with dozens of bright yellow flashlight-shaped devices. The school had not stockpiled flashlights for gazing into dark corners. Instead, these were portable breath testing instruments awaiting samples of air drawn from the deep lungs of teenagers. Every student seeking admission to the dance was required to submit a breath sample. Only students who registered no alcohol concentration were eligible to attend the dance.
After the dance, someone asked me whether it was lawful for a school to require students to submit to a breath test before admitting them to a school function. My answer? Yes. My reasoning? See below.
Meet CASSI: North Carolina’s First Fully Autonomous Vehicle
The General Assembly clearly was preparing for the future in June 2017 when it enacted regulations governing the operation of fully autonomous vehicles. Just two-and-a-half years later, that future has arrived on North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus. There, students, staff and visitors to campus can take a ride with CASSI, a driverless vehicle. 