A UNC School of Government Blog
Jeff Welty 
Each year on the first Monday in October, the Supreme Court begins a new term. Today’s the first Monday in October 2013, so in this post, I’ll summarize several of the criminal cases that the Court will hear during the term that has just begun. This will be a selective preview rather than a comprehensive … Read more
No, the federal government shutdown hasn’t reached the School of Government — I’m just a little slow with my post today due to some teaching and other obligations. Easily the most unusual story of the week was this one from San Diego, California: a defendant was convicted of murder and sentenced to 53 years in … Read more
A new edition of the State of North Carolina Extradition Manual is now available. Although international extradition gets all the media attention — and is the subject of this blog post — state-to-state extradition is vastly more common. Particularly in border counties, it is an everyday procedure. The manual provides an overview of the process and … Read more
This week, the State Auditor released an audit of the Administrative Office of the Courts. It’s available here. One finding was that the AOC “does not make detailed . . . DWI case data readily available to the public . . . although AOC [was] asked to do so by . . . the legislature … Read more
When a person is arrested while in possession of drugs and is taken to the jail in handcuffs, may the person properly be convicted of possessing drugs in a confinement facility? The question has divided courts across the country. Last week, a majority of the court of appeals concluded that the answer is yes. State … Read more
In a post last week, I mentioned that it looks increasingly likely that Supreme Court will grant certiorari in a case considering cell phone searches. In this post, I’ll support that remark by describing two cases in which certiorari petitions have been filed and explaining why each is a strong candidate for Supreme Court review. … Read more
There was a ton of interesting news this week, starting in Union County, where the “district attorney has dismissed cases against 39 people because Monroe police officers failed to provide case files and related work needed for prosecution,” according to this Charlotte Observer article. The article notes that last year, a judge fined the police … Read more
The Ninth Circuit recently decided a case that addresses a question I’ve been asked several times: may the police answer a seized cell phone? The answer may depend on the basis for, and circumstances of, the seizure. On the facts before the Ninth Circuit, the court answered no. The Ninth Circuit case. The case is … Read more
There’s a pretty strong argument that the state court system is underfunded. And there’s a pretty strong argument that the federal court system is underfunded. The Judicial Conference of the United States makes the latter pitch in this letter to President Obama, noting that budget cuts have impacted “all aspects of court operations,” including reducing … Read more
When the police seize a gun in the course of an investigation, what becomes of it after any resulting court case concludes? A recent legislative enactment has changed the most common answer to that question – and may leave a significant number of weapons in limbo. Prior law. Until recently, G.S. 15-11.1(b1) provided that once … Read more