It’s a ritual of fall: one faculty member or another receives an inquiry about whether registered sex offenders covered by G.S. 14-208.18 may attend a county fair or the State Fair. I tend to doubt that most agricultural fairs are intended “primarily” for kids, which would make them per se off limits, but I think it would be awfully difficult for a covered offender to make his or her way around most such fairs without running afoul of the 300-foot rule and/or the prohibition against being present at places minors gather for “regularly scheduled . . . programs.” We don’t have a case yet discussing sex offenders at fairs, but we may soon. WRAL reports here that a sex offender has been arrested after allegedly posing as a ride inspector at the “kiddie land” portion of the State Fair. Weirdly, WRAL also reports that a second sex offender has been arrested after flying a camera-equipped drone over the fair.
Jeff Welty
Second Circuit Decides Major Gun Control Case
The Second Circuit just decided a case regarding gun control legislation in Connecticut and New York. It’s important in its own right, and because it concerns two issues that the Supreme Court could soon take up: bans on assault weapons and on high-capacity magazines.
News Roundup
I’m going to admit something here: I’ve never called an Uber. Or summoned an Uber. Used an Uber? Whatever. I’m just old fashioned, I guess. The same cannot be said of Dashawn Cochran, who was recently arrested in Maryland after allegedly robbing a store at gunpoint and escaping via Uber. Very cutting edge! But not successful. It turns out that while Uber drivers are readily available, they’re not highly motivated to try to elude the police. CNET has the story here.
Search Warrants for Suicide Scenes
Here’s a question that comes up from time to time: May a search warrant issue for a residence in which an apparent suicide has taken place, in order to rule out the possibility of foul play? Generally, I don’t think so, for the reasons given below.
News Roundup
I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned it before on this blog, but I was on the debate team in high school and college, and I coach a high school debate team now. I’ve coached several students who went on to debate for Harvard, two of whom won collegiate national championships and one of whom won a world championship, a rare feat for an American debater. So I was pretty surprised to read this article from The Guardian, which reports that a team of New York prison inmates defeated a team of Harvard debaters a couple of weeks back. Kudos to the inmates. I know from experience that those Harvard kids are sharp.
Must Officers Now Arrest, Rather Than Cite, for Misdemeanor Marijuana Possession?
This session, the General Assembly made some changes to the statute governing the fingerprinting of criminal defendants. Inside and outside the School of Government, people are divided about whether the statute now requires officers to arrest, rather than cite, individuals for misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses.
Supreme Court Preview: 2015 Term
It’s the first Monday in October, which means it’s the first day of the Supreme Court’s 2015 Term. Read on to learn about the criminal law cases that the Court will consider.
News Roundup
While the General Assembly has closed up shop, Congress is going strong, and a bipartisan group of Senators has introduced the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, which would reform federal mandatory minimums in drug cases, expand the “safety valve,” and require a complete inventory of all federal criminal offenses. The last item especially intrigues me, because several efforts at listing all federal crimes have failed in the recent past. Doug Berman summarizes the legislation here, and a critical reaction to it is here.
Omnibus Criminal Law Bill
The General Assembly has just adjourned for the year. Last week, it passed, and the Governor signed, an omnibus criminal law bill, S.L. 2015-247. This post briefly summarizes its main provisions.
News Roundup
There was a steady stream of news about capital punishment this week. The Pope addressed a special joint session of Congress this week, and among many other things, asked the legislature to abolish the death penalty. The full text of the speech is here. Justice Scalia, one of the Supreme Court’s six Catholics, reportedly stated this week that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the Court bans the penalty in the future, though he personally believes it to be constitutional. Meanwhile, State Rep. Jon Hardister, a Republican from Greensboro, indicated that he believes the death penalty should be eliminated because he doesn’t “trust the government to do it right” and stated that he is starting “conversation[s]” with other Republican legislators on the issue. Finally, Reuters published this long report, the key finding of which is that “[a] review of 2,102 state supreme court rulings on death penalty appeals . . . over the past 15 years found a strong correlation between the results in those cases and the way each state chooses its justices. In the 15 states where high court judges are directly elected, justices rejected the death sentence in 11 percent of appeals, less than half the 26 percent reversal rate in the seven states where justices are appointed.”