January 23, 2013
Yesterday’s post was about the prior record point that applies when all the elements of the offense being sentenced are included in one of the defendant’s prior offenses. Today’s post […]
January 22, 2013
In addition to the regular sentencing points assigned to a defendant based on his or her prior convictions, there are two additional “bonus points” that apply in certain circumstances. One […]
December 13, 2012
As I traveled around the state teaching about the Justice Reinvestment Act, I had lots of discussions about the various types of confinement that can now be ordered in response […]
December 6, 2012
“Only an idiot drives on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus.” So read a sign that an Ohio judge ordered a woman to wear after being convicted for the […]
November 27, 2012
In 2008 the General Assembly enacted two new crimes, rape of a child by an adult offender under G.S. 14-27.2A, and sexual offense with a child by an adult under […]
November 21, 2012
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 […]
November 13, 2012
Over the weekend we observed Veterans Day. Thank you to all who have served. [Editor’s note: Jamie is himself an Air Force veteran, as he mentions below, so thanks to […]
November 8, 2012
Recent changes to G.S. 7A-304 (discussed in my previous post) make it more likely that a judge will impose court costs on a defendant who receives an active sentence. Costs […]
November 1, 2012
Following up on Jeff’s post yesterday about court costs and traffic citations, today’s post is about a trial judge’s authority to waive court costs. Under G.S. 7A-304, certain court costs […]
October 24, 2012
Questions related to the Justice Reinvestment Act keep flooding in. Lots of them have been addressed elsewhere on this blog (see our Justice Reinvestment Resource Page for a collection of […]