A UNC School of Government Blog
Jeff Welty 
May a man be held criminally responsible for the contents of his girlfriend’s purse? Yes, on the facts of State v. Mitchell, the court of appeals ruled yesterday. In Mitchell, an officer stopped the defendant for speeding. The officer ordered the defendant and his girlfriend out of the car. Subsequent events, not highly relevant here, … Read more
This Gallup survey reports that Americans view lawyers negatively. Perhaps the survey respondents should get to know Chris Beechler, a criminal defense attorney from Winston-Salem. This Winston-Salem Journal article describes Chris as a “clothes horse,” an “amateur comedian,” and as a “guy who looks a little bit like Fred Flintstone.” I’ve known Chris for several … Read more
A new justice is coming to the North Carolina Supreme Court. Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson is stepping down, and Governor Perdue says that she will appoint a successor. She plans to bypass the judicial nominating commission that she recently created to take politics out of judicial appointments. The News and Observer has more here and here. … Read more
G.S. 14-196.3 prohibits “cyberstalking,” which the statute generally defines to mean using electronic communications to threaten, extort, make an abusive or embarrassing false statement about, or repeatedly harass another person. As Jessie noted in this prior post, cyberstalking has become a frequently charged offense. It can be committed by text message, email, Facebook, and other … Read more
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It puts me in a good mood. I suspect that certain holidays put other people — like judges — in a good mood, too. And there’s some evidence that judges’ sentencing decisions are influenced by factors similar to mood, like the widely-reported study showing that tired judges deny parole more … Read more
Last night, I attended the annual awards dinner for the North Carolina Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section. It was fantastic and inspiring, as it is every year. Congratulations to long-time Cumberland County assistant district attorney Cal Colyer, the first person other than an elected district attorney to win the Peter Gilchrist award, and to Charlotte … Read more
Everyone knows the headline results from Tuesday: President Obama was re-elected; Pat McCrory will be the next governor; Republicans control the General Assembly; and Justice Newby narrowly retained his seat. But there are lots of interesting details in the State Board of Election’s preliminary results, here. For example: Every district attorney who ran this year … Read more
It’s election day, and the various national and state contests have potentially significant implications for criminal law. My rundown of the top races and issues is below, but please weigh in if you think I’m missing something major. Presidential election. Crime and punishment hasn’t been a major focus of the campaign. Some argue that Governor … Read more
Congratulations to my colleague John Rubin, who was just named the Albert Coates Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government. It’s a well-deserved permanent chaired professorship for John, who has worked tirelessly for many years to improve the quality of indigent defense in North Carolina. In developments outside the ivory tower: The Supreme Court heard … Read more
Court costs support many different programs and purposes. The principal statute concerning court costs in criminal cases is G.S. 7A-304. (Under G.S. 15A-1118, these costs also apply to infraction cases.) G.S. 7A-304 establishes various court costs for the support of “courtroom(s) and related judicial facilities,” “courthouse phone systems,” “retirement and insurance benefits [for] . . … Read more