A UNC School of Government Blog
An amended statute and a recent case improve our understanding of places sex offenders cannot live and go in North Carolina. First, the statute. Under G.S. 14-208.16, a registered sex offender may not reside within 1,000 feet of a school or child care center. The law has always defined “child care center” by reference to … Read more
Driving a vehicle on a street, highway, or public vehicular area in North Carolina in violation of the window tinting restrictions set forth in G.S. 20-127 is a Class 3 misdemeanor. In 2013, there were more than 12,500 charges filed for such window tinting violations. For some drivers, the violation leads to far more serious … Read more
Last month the U.S. Supreme Court held that under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officers can’t search a cell phone as a search incident to arrest. Riley v. California, __ U.S. __, 134 S.Ct. 2473 (2014). For background on those cases, see the blog post here. Since then I’ve had a bunch of … Read more
The prosecution of a South Carolina mother who left her 9-year-old child unattended in a park several days in a row while the mother worked her shift at a nearby McDonald’s has been widely covered and roundly criticized. The mother reportedly was charged as a result of the incident with unlawful neglect of a child, … Read more
Lawyers Weekly ran a brief article a couple of months ago about the above question. The article is here, behind a paywall. What follows is my own analysis of the issue. Obscenity. The first issue, and the only one addressed by Lawyers’ Weekly, is whether making pornographic movies would violate the obscenity statutes. Specifically, G.S. … Read more
As a regular I-40 commuter, I feel like traffic jams are the story of my life. And it is obvious I’m not alone. But there may be hope. Legislation enacted last week provides the state Department of Transportation with an additional tool to combat traffic congestion: the ramp meter, a traffic control device never before … Read more
A man in Charlotte was struck by a stray bullet on July 4th. The police say that “it appears that it was not an intentional shooting but that someone . . . fired a celebration shot into the air” and happened to hit the man. The shot could have been fired anywhere in a several … Read more
To prove that a person drove a vehicle while under the influence of an impairing substance in violation of G.S. 20-138.1(a)(3), the State must establish that the defendant was impaired by [a]lcohol , a controlled substance under Chapter 90 of the General Statutes, some other drug or psychoactive substance capable of impairing a person’s physical … Read more
Kids do some appalling things. Last week, the court of appeals decided a case involving conduct at a school event that was beyond the pale. But did it rise to the level of a juvenile offense, i.e., a crime? The case is In re M.J.G. It began at a charity volleyball game that was being … Read more
Impaired driving checkpoints work because they scare people—not because they ensnare people. Sure, a few people are arrested for DWI at such checkpoints. But many more are deterred from driving after they’ve had too much to drink because of the perception that they might be subject to a random and surprise stop. In fact, the … Read more