With few exceptions, new law enforcement officers in North Carolina are required to complete a course called Basic Law Enforcement Training, or BLET. The curriculum for the course is established by the North Carolina Justice Academy, but the training is typically delivered at dozens of community colleges and through recruit academies run by some of the larger law enforcement agencies in the state. The curriculum has been significantly revised over the past few years, and I thought readers might be interested in a summary of the major changes.
Jeff Welty
News Roundup
It sounds like there’s a criminal trial of some kind going on in New York, but the big trial this week here in North Carolina was the retrial of self-proclaimed billionaire insurance magnate Greg Lindberg. Lindberg was once the state’s leading campaign donor. According to this AP story, a federal jury in the Western District of North Carolina has convicted him of “attempting to bribe the state’s insurance commissioner to secure preferential regulatory treatment for his insurance business.” Lindberg was previously convicted of essentially the same crime in 2020, successfully appealed, and was released from prison in 2022. He now appears likely to be headed back into custody. He is also awaiting trial on another set of federal charges. Keep reading for more news.
Fourth Circuit Strongly Suggests Including Temporal Limitations on Search Warrants for Social Media Account Information
Earlier this year, the Fourth Circuit decided United States v. Zelaya-Veliz, 94 F.4th 321 (4th Cir. 2024). Phil summarized it here when it came out, but we thought it merited its own post because of its extended discussion of how the Fourth Amendment applies to search warrants for social media account information. The court’s discussion of the need for temporal limitations in such warrants is especially noteworthy, as is the court’s analysis of the scope of the information seized pursuant to the warrants approved by the court. We’ll start with a recap of the case, and then end with some thoughts for law enforcement and prosecutors, and for defenders.
Grant’s Pass, Homelessness, and the Constitutionality of Anti-Sleeping and Anti-Camping Ordinances
Homelessness is a challenging problem. Some cities have attempted to address it, in part, by prohibiting sleeping or camping in public places. The Supreme Court of the United States is currently considering whether, and under what circumstances, such ordinances are constitutional. I recently listened to the oral arguments in the case. Those who are currently litigating violations of anti-sleeping or anti-camping ordinances may be interested in this summary of the issues, as may those responsible for shaping municipal policy.
Updated Content Now Available in the Digital Version of Arrest, Search, and Investigation in North Carolina
Most readers of this blog are familiar with Arrest, Search, and Investigation in North Carolina. For those who are not, it is a treatise on search and seizure law. It covers stops, arrests, warrantless searches, search warrants, and much more. The most recent (sixth) edition was published in 2021 and was authored by long-time School of Government faculty member Robert L. Farb and research attorney Christopher Tyner. However, the law is never static, and the intervening years have seen major developments concerning issues such as digital searches, strip searches, the recording of interrogations, the automobile exception to the warrant requirement, and more. I’ve updated the treatise, and this post details how to access the new content.
News Roundup
Nationally, the biggest criminal law story this week was the sentencing of James and Jennifer Crumbley. They’re the parents of Ethan Crumbley, who was a student at Oxford High School in Michigan in 2021 when he murdered four classmates and injured seven other people in a mass shooting. James and Jennifer Crumbley were each convicted, in separate trials, of four counts of involuntary manslaughter as a result of their son’s acts. The prosecution contended that they ignored a host of warning signs about Ethan’s mental state and ultimately enabled the shooting by purchasing him a handgun. This week, they were sentenced at a joint sentencing hearing to 10 to 15 years in prison. The Associated Press has the story here. Read on for more news.
Are Prosecutors Entitled to Immunity When Advising Law Enforcement Officers?
Law enforcement officers frequently call on prosecutors for advice. Prosecutors generally see responding to such requests as part of their duties, as the North Carolina Constitution directs that District Attorneys “advise the officers of justice” in their districts. N.C. Const., Art. IV, § 18. But are prosecutors protected by absolute prosecutorial immunity when they give such advice? Or something less? Read on to find out.
GiveUNC Is Today
Today is GiveUNC. According to the GiveUNC website, this is “a day when alumni, friends, faculty [and staff] and other Carolina supporters come together to support the causes they care about most.” We hope that the School of Government provides value to you. The School is unique in our focus on providing training, consulting, and … Read more
News Roundup
Bankman-Fried sentencing. Regular readers know that I’m interested in the criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX. I even read a book about Bankman-Fried, which I reviewed here. He has been convicted in federal court and his sentencing hearing is set for March 28. The United States Probation Office has calculated his Guideline sentence as 110 years in prison, and has recommended a downward variance to 100 years. (They temper justice with mercy at the United States Probation Office.) Bankman-Fried’s attorneys have responded with a 90-page sentencing memorandum, arguing that Bankman-Fried is a selfless philanthropist at heart; that there are no victims of his crimes because it now appears that there were sufficient assets in FTX to pay all customers and creditors; and that a proper application of the Guidelines calls for a sentence of approximately 6 years but that given various mitigating circumstances, “a sentence that returns [Bankman-Fried] promptly to a productive role in society would . . . comply with the purposes of sentencing.” Stay tuned for further developments! And keep reading for more news.
Does a Magistrate Have the Discretion to Refuse to Issue Criminal Process When Probable Cause Exists?
If I had to answer the question in the title of this post in the briefest possible way, I would say: not usually. But there’s a lot of uncertainty and nuance packed into that short answer. This post gets into the details.