Tuesday night, Pam Bondi was confirmed by the United States Senate as the Attorney General of the United States. Bondi previously served as Attorney General of Florida. The Senate voted 54 – 46, with all Republicans plus John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voting in favor of confirmation, and all other Democrats voting against. NPR reports here that Bondi immediately issued 14 memoranda that, among other things, lift the federal moratorium on executions; establish a task force on antisemitism and justice for the victims of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel; and form a working group regarding the weaponization of federal agencies for political ends. Keep reading for more news.
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Book Review: Framed
I’ve enjoyed quite a few books by John Grisham. I liked some of his early fiction a great deal. His more recent novels have been hit or miss for me. This Christmas, I received a copy of Framed, a new work of nonfiction he wrote in collaboration with Jim McCloskey, the founder of a nonprofit called Centurion Ministries that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted. The book has ten chapters. Each tells the story of a wrongful conviction. I found the book interesting and also somewhat unsatisfying, for reasons I explain below.
News Roundup
The lead story this week is the sentencing of former U.S. senator Bob Menendez on Wednesday to 11 years in prison, per this report from the Washington Post. Menendez, 71, a longtime New Jersey lawmaker, was convicted last year in federal court of bribery and extortion, among other charges. He is the first public official in the United States to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent. Menendez has given notice of appeal. Read on for more criminal law news.
Public Records and Minors Arrested Under Criminal Jurisdiction
Does the law that makes personally identifiable arrest information a public record apply to the arrest of a person who is 16-or 17-years-old and charged with a Class A – E felony? This is the most common question I have received since the law of juvenile jurisdiction changed on December 1, 2024. Beginning with offenses committed on that date, Class A – E felonies committed at ages 16 and 17 fall under original criminal jurisdiction. G.S. 7B-1501(7)b.2. That means that these cases are now criminal cases from their inception. At the same time, the youth involved fall under the definition of juvenile in the Juvenile Code. G.S. 7B-1501(17). This leaves many people wondering which law applies—the public records law about law enforcement arrest records or the Juvenile Code provisions about the confidential nature of law enforcement records and files concerning juveniles?
Law Enforcement Officer Standards, Selection, and Training: How We Compare to Spain
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Spain, where I networked with academic colleagues, gave a talk about American policing, and did some research. One thing I wanted to learn more about was how law enforcement officers in Spain are selected and trained. I had read this article, and similar pieces, arguing that police training in Europe is very different from – and superior to – American police training. I wanted to assess that for myself. I was surprised by some of things I learned, and I thought I would share them in this post.
News Roundup
As one of his first acts as in office, President Trump issued sweeping pardons and commutations for the people convicted of crimes stemming from their involvement in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Most of the defendants received full and unconditional pardons, while fourteen people convicted of seditious conspiracy received commutations of their sentences, according to this report by the AP. The President has also directed the U.S. Attorney General to dismiss the remaining pending prosecutions of January 6th defendants (around 450 cases). This sweeping grant of relief serves as a rejection by the executive branch of the outcomes of what was “the largest investigation in Justice Department history,” according to the story. Supporters of the move praised the President’s actions as undoing what they consider politically motivated prosecutions, while detractors have categorized the relief as a blow to the justice system, pointing to the hundreds of defendants duly convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers and other serious crimes. At least one defendant convicted of a misdemeanor relating to January 6th is attempting to refuse her pardon, although the legal support for such a move is unclear, according to this story. Additionally, President Trump issued a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, an online marketplace for drugs and other contraband. Ulbricht was convicted of various drug, conspiracy, and computer offenses in 2015 and was sentenced to life without parole. Read on for more criminal law news.
News Roundup
This morning, President Biden announced that he will commute the sentences of nearly 2,500 inmates serving long prison terms for nonviolent drug offenses. The commutations are for offenders who received harsher sentences for drug crimes than they would have under current law and practice. Over the past two decades, Congress has passed legislation to rectify sentencing disparities and practices that disproportionately affected Black people and fueled mass incarceration, such as the now-discredited distinction between crack and powder cocaine. In his statement, Biden said “as Congress recognized through the Fair Sentencing Act and the First Step Act, it is time we equalize these sentencing disparities.” The commutations are the latest use of clemency power by President Biden, following the full pardon of his son Hunter, commuting the sentences of nearly all federal death row prisoners, and commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals moved to home confinement during the pandemic. Read on for more criminal law news.
2025 Expunction Guide Available for Free!
With a teaser like that, who could resist reading more? The 2025 edition of my online guide to expunctions is now available on the School of Government’s website at https://www.sog.unc.edu/resources/microsites/relief-criminal-conviction/. It is a free resource on expunctions and other forms of relief from the consequences of a criminal conviction. Compared to previous years, the 2024 legislative session was relatively quiet on the expunction front, but the General Assembly made some important changes, discussed briefly below and in more detail in the revised guide.
Criminal Series of the Clerks’ Manual Now Available
I am pleased to announce that the updated chapters in the Criminal Series of the Clerks’ Manual are now available.
News Roundup
In the waning weeks of his four-year term, President Biden announced commutations of 37 of 40 federal death sentences. With the exception of three individuals convicted of crimes involving “terrorism” or “hate-motivated mass murder,” Biden decided that the remaining federal death row prisoners should receive sentences of life without the possibility of parole. In 2021, Biden declared a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study protocols, and before that, he pledged action to end the death penalty at the federal level. The families of the victims reacted to the commutations with a range of emotions.