News Roundup

I’m traveling today with only an iPad and inconsistent Wifi for Internet access, so pardon the short post and untidy formatting in what has been a VERY interesting news week. 1. The court of appeals heard the electronic sweepstakes case this week, as the News and Observer notes here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/10/26/1595110/court-weighs-video-gaming.html 2. John Edwards lost his motions … Read more

Medical Providers’ Duty to Report Injuries to Law Enforcement

Jill Moore, one of my colleagues who works in the area of public health law, recently posted on the School of Government’s local government law blog about health care providers’ obligation to report certain injuries to law enforcement. It’s an issue that comes up from time to time, and I thought that our readers would … Read more

Are Ticket or Arrest Quotas Lawful?

I’ve recently been asked by several people whether it is lawful to require officers to issue a certain number of citations, or to make a certain number of arrests, per day or per month. Generally, I think it is lawful, subject to some important caveats. Let me start by noting that the use of quotas … Read more

News Roundup

Regular readers may have noticed that I fell down on the job and didn’t get a post up on Wednesday. Sorry about that! It’s been a busy week with the various court officials’ conferences. But it’s also been busy in the wider world: 1. The North Carolina Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section is preparing for … Read more

News Roundup

Perhaps the biggest criminal law story here in North Carolina this week was the appointment of former court of appeals judge Joe John as the director of the State Crime Lab. The News and Observer reports here that Judge “John’s appointment was on the unanimous recommendation of an advisory committee that included defense attorneys.” Judge … Read more

News Roundup

A lot of attention was focused on Cupertino, California this week as Apple introduced a new iPhone and company founder Steve Jobs died. There’s a gossamer connection to the blog, since a previous version of the iPhone was the subject of this prior post. In other news: 1. Also in California, the DEA has begun … Read more

News Roundup

No single story dominated the criminal law world this week, but that doesn’t mean that it was a dull week by any stretch of the imagination. 1. The News and Observer reports here on Ty Hobson-Powell, a 16-year-old 1L at NCCU law. He’s got an impressive resume, having graduated from college in two years at … Read more

Empty Your Pockets

Can a police officer order a suspect to empty his or her pockets during a Terry stop? The New York Times reports on claims that New York officers do so regularly: Critics say that as part of the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy, officers routinely tell suspects to empty their pockets and then, if marijuana is … Read more