Kenly is a small town with a population just under 2,000. It made national news recently when the chief and all the full-time officers in the Kenly Police Department resigned. It sounds like Kenly is planning to rebuild its police department. But that isn’t mandatory. For now, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office is providing law enforcement services in Kenly, and Kenly could choose to do without a police department on a permanent basis. In fact, there are hundreds of municipalities in North Carolina that don’t have their own police departments. This post highlights some of the considerations for small towns thinking about whether or not to have a police department.
Jeff Welty
News Roundup
On Monday, a grand jury in Wake County returned a presentment against Attorney General Josh Stein and two people affiliated with his 2020 electoral campaign. The presentment asked the Wake County District Attorney to “submit for grand jury consideration an indictment” charging a violation of G.S. 163-274(a)(9), which makes it a misdemeanor to “publish . . . derogatory reports with reference to any candidate in any primary or election, knowing such report to be false or in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity, when such report is calculated or intended to affect the chances of such candidate for nomination or election.” The basis of the presentment is a television ad run by Attorney General Stein’s campaign during the 2020 election cycle, accusing Stein’s opponent, Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill, of leaving “1,500 rape kits on a shelf.” On Tuesday, a divided panel of the Fourth Circuit enjoined further state court proceedings pending resolution of a federal lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s campaign and related parties, claiming that the statute at issue violates the First Amendment. The issuance of the injunction pending appeal indicates that the panel believes the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits, but the matter is to be briefed expeditiously and argued in December. Keep reading for more news.
News Roundup
I wrote last week about the different state and federal approaches to sealing search warrants and related documents. It was a timely topic in light of the search warrant the FBI obtained for former President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago. That search warrant and the inventory of items seized from former President Trump’s home have already been unsealed, but the affidavit supporting the issuance of the warrant has not. This week, the magistrate judge who issued the warrant heard arguments about whether the affidavit should be made public as well. ABC11 reports here that the judge plans to release at least a redacted version of the affidavit. The Department of Justice argued that the affidavit provides a road map to its investigation. It has a week to submit proposed redactions to the court. Keep reading for more news.
Public Access to the Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant (and Other Federal Search Warrants and Related Documents)
Last week, the FBI searched former President Trump’s home at the Mar-a-Lago Club pursuant to a search warrant. At first none of the relevant documents were publicly available. The application, the warrant itself, and the inventory were all sealed. The Government, with the consent of former President Trump, later moved to unseal the warrant and the inventory. That motion was granted and anyone can access the now-public documents here. The application remains under seal, though members of the news media have moved to unseal it. Because several people asked me about public access to federal search warrants and related documents, and because the process isn’t exactly the same as it is under state law, I thought I’d do a post comparing state and federal law on this issue.
Does the First Amendment Protect a Right to Verbally Abuse the Police?
Editor’s note: This post contains vulgar language that isn’t suitable for children and quite possibly many adults. If you’re an email subscriber, your spam filter probably won’t like it, either. Also, it is quite long.
A federal court of appeals recently ruled in favor of a man who called a group of police officers “bitch ass fucking pigs,” “motherfuckers,” and “dirty rat bastards.” It found that his arrest on disorderly conduct charges was unjustified because “mere epithets” directed at a law enforcement officer, no matter how coarse or profane, do not constitute fighting words and are protected by the First Amendment. Wood v. Eubanks, 25 F.4th 414 (6th Cir. 2022). This raises the question: do police officers really have to put up with this?
News Roundup
Matthew Fishman, a sergeant in the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, was shot and killed this week while attempting to serve involuntary commitment papers. He leaves behind a wife and two children, as well as many other friends and family members. Two other deputies were also shot but will survive. The man they were trying to serve shot and killed himself before a SWAT team entered his home. ABC11 has the story here. Read on for more, and less tragic, news.
What I Learned from Reviewing 279 Search Warrants
Over the past several months, I’ve been dropping by clerks’ offices to look at search warrants. I’ve made it to six offices, including offices in eastern, central, and western North Carolina, and in urban and rural areas. I’ve reviewed and made notes on 279 warrants and have at least skimmed hundreds more. The warrants I’ve reviewed were sought by 38 different agencies for a range of offenses. What follows are a few observations based on what I saw.
New Edition of Arrest, Search, and Investigation in North Carolina Now Available
The indispensable search and seizure legal reference is back and better than ever! That’s right, the sixth edition of Arrest, Search, and Investigation in North Carolina is now available for purchase here on the School of Government’s website. Read on for more information about the content, changes, and pricing of the new edition.
News Roundup
CNN reports here that a “West Virginia woman has awoken from a two-year coma and identified her brother as her attacker.” Wanda Palmer was brutally assaulted in 2020, with first responders initially believing that she was dead. She wasn’t, though she was comatose. She began to emerge from the coma last month, and now is apparently coherent though unable to hold full-length conversations. After naming her brother Daniel as her assailant, she was asked why he attacked her. She reportedly responded “because he’s mean.” Daniel Palmer has been arrested for attempted murder. A criminal defense lawyer considers how an identification like this may play in court here on Fox News. Keep reading for more news.