A UNC School of Government Blog
From 1995 to 2009, North Carolina had two sentencing grids—one for felonies, one for misdemeanors. That was it. Then the grid was amended in 2009. And 2011 (with special rules for sex offenders). And 2013, for both felonies and misdemeanors. Because you should always use the grid that was in place when the defendant committed … Read more
A DWI conviction will cost you. Let’s take the case of a typical defendant who has never before been charged with or convicted of DWI. I’ll call him Forrest Firsttimer. Forrest is arrested at a DWI checkpoint. He submits to a breath test, which reports an alcohol concentration of 0.08. Forrest is taken before a … Read more
May community service fees be waived? I suspect some of you are thinking “I hope so, because they just were,” or something along those lines. It turns out to be a tricky question, I think. First, let me be clear about what I mean by community service. I’m talking about community service ordered as a … Read more
North Carolina has a law allowing certain prison inmates to be released early for medical reasons. It was passed in 2008, largely in response to concerns that a small number of aging inmates accounted for a sizeable percentage of the system’s medical budget. The law is similar in concept to compassionate release in the federal … Read more
Last week I wrote a post about “using up” jail credit that generated some helpful comments. Thanks! I’m hoping for a repeat performance with today’s post, which is about another jail credit issue. A defendant must receive credit for all the time he or she is confined “as a result of the charge that culminated … Read more
Suppose a person is held in jail for 20 days on two pending misdemeanor charges, Charge A and Charge B. For one reason or another, Charge A results in a conviction first and is sentenced to 100 days. Ten days later, the defendant is convicted of Charge B and also sentenced to 100 days on … Read more
It is a Thanksgiving tradition for the president to pardon a turkey. This year, CNN reports, it was a Minnesota bird named Popcorn. But is executive clemency limited to avians? This post briefly explores the available data. Decline in federal clemency. Though he pardoned a turkey, President Obama has not pardoned many people. The New … Read more
I thought I’d take a few minutes and jot down some questions and answers about the new fine-only punishment scheme for Class 3 misdemeanors for many defendants (enacted as part of the 2013 Appropriations Act). Several hours later—after thinking about the different permutations, reading several cases, talking with patient colleagues, and pondering further—I came up … Read more
With Thanksgiving tomorrow, today’s post will be the last of the week. That means it is the last post before December 1, when another batch of new laws comes into effect. Perhaps most notable among them is the new rule limiting punishment for a Class 3 misdemeanor to a fine only for defendants with three … Read more