A UNC School of Government Blog
Jeff Welty 
I’m a little like a broadcaster for a small-market sports team, in that I’m a relentless “homer,” always impressed with the efforts of the School of Government faculty. With that disclaimer in mind, my colleague Michael Crowell has just published a terrific paper, available for free here, about courts’ authority to impose time limits on … Read more
Update: The creator of the barrel monster has had his day in court, and appears to have received some sort of deferred prosecution, as reported here. Original Post: My colleagues have contributed several great posts recently, and I have a couple more ready to go, but there have been several news stories over the past … Read more
I thought that I might blog today about the Sotomayor confirmation hearings, but they’ve been thoroughly dull. The only piece I’ve seen that makes them seem even a little bit interesting is this one, which I understand to be written by a liberal commentator unimpressed with the judge. Fortunately, my colleague John Rubin rescued me … Read more
From time to time, a judge, prosecutor, or defense attorney will call the School of Government asking about the law of sexual assualts in, say, 1968. Typically, the caller will be handling a case involving recent allegations of sexual abuse by a person who is now an adult but who was a child at the … Read more
Update: It has come to my attention that there may be a bit more to the AOC restitution story than meets the eye. This memo from Judge John Smith, the director of the AOC, provides a bit of explanation for why the restitution priorities were set as they were, and to what extent the General … Read more
There’s a tremendous debate going on over child pornography sentencing in the federal courts. In a number of high-profile cases, judges have imposed sentences well below what the federal sentencing guidelines recommend. An Assistant Federal Public Defender published an influential paper arguing that the guidelines for such cases have been increased over time for reasons … Read more
Several recent news stories may be of interest to readers of this blog: 1. Sotomayor scuttlebutt: Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings are scheduled to begin next week. There’s no reason to doubt that she’ll be confirmed, and the ABA just rated her “highly qualified,” all of which makes one wonder about the value of the Congressional … Read more
Crime victims who aren’t citizens may be reluctant to come forward, particularly if they are in the United States illegally. Congress attempted to address this problem in 2000, by creating a special category of temporary visa for crime victims who assist authorities in investigating and prosecuting those who victimized them. These visas, called U visas, have not … Read more
I was on vacation last week, and the buzz around Melendez-Diaz — see this prior post for the basics — was partly drowned out by the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. But only partly, because Melendez-Diaz is a big case, with significant implications for North Carolina, and questions about it were still … Read more
Notwithstanding federal judge Alex Kozinski’s recent quip that “the ten most terrifying words in the English language may be, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help you,’” we at the School of Government actually are here to help you. We’re glad to answer questions from, and offer opinions to, anyone who is part … Read more