A UNC School of Government Blog
Jeff Welty 
Under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), before an officer may begin a custodial interrogation of a suspect, the officer must advise the suspect of certain rights, such as the right to remain silent. One might think that when an officer questions a jail or prison inmate, the setting is necessarily custodial. The case … Read more
The court of appeals recently decided Kenton v. Kenton, a civil case of major significance for criminal lawyers. In a nutshell, a wife sought a domestic violence protective order (DVPO) against her husband. A district court judge entered a consent DVPO, finding that “[t]he parties agree to entry of this order without express findings of … Read more
There’s been a lot going on this week. The first evidentiary hearing under the Racial Justice Act has come to an end. The Fayetteville Observer reports on the parties’ closing arguments here. Both sides are expected to file additional briefs, and a decision is unlikely for several weeks. The national media is interested in the … Read more
The Supreme Court of North Carolina recently decided State v. Mbacke, an important case about searches incident to arrest. I mentioned Mbacke briefly in this prior post, which noted that the court of appeals’ decision in the case was impossible to reconcile with the same court’s decision in the similar case of State v. Foy. … Read more
Last week’s top stories are still going, including litigation under the Racial Justice Act in Fayetteville. The Fayetteville Observer’s latest story is here, summarizing the testimony of the state’s statistician. For those with a numerical bent, it’s pretty interesting. But many of us are looking ahead to next week and Valentine’s Day. Apparently that includes … Read more
Several years ago, I blogged about a case in which the government sought to compel a criminal defendant to provide the password to his encrypted computer, or at least, to provide an unencrypted copy of the contents of his hard drive. You can read that post here. It’s time to revisit the topic, for two … Read more
All roads lead to Fayetteville. Now, there’s a sentence I never thought I’d type. But this week, it’s true. Mainly, the first evidentiary hearing in a Racial Justice Act case is taking place there. Here’s today’s article from the Fayetteville Observer, which details some of the testimony that attorneys for death row inmate Marcus Reymond … Read more
The Fourth Circuit recently decided United States v. Ramos-Cruz, a case involving an MS-13 member who was convicted of assorted federal crimes, all generally tied to his gang membership and activity. The defendant appealed, inter alia, “the district court’s decision to permit two witnesses to testify against him without revealing their names or other identifying … Read more
I’ve had quite a few questions from officers and others about United States v. Jones, the Supreme Court’s recent GPS tracking decision. I previously summarized the case here. Below, I’ve collected some of the questions I’ve been asked and my answers. It should go without saying that officers should check with their supervisors and agency … Read more
The Jones GPS tracking case was the biggest legal news of the week. I blogged about it here, and plan to post some additional thoughts next week, but in the meantime, it is worth noting the Supreme Court Haiku capturing the case: GPS on car Cops installed and monitored “Search” that needs warrant In other … Read more