North Carolina Criminal Law

Apparently the Supreme Court issued some sort of decision this week about broccoli, or health insurance, or something. But it wasn’t all mandates and Medicare: there were several significant criminal […]

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The biggest news locally this week was the General Assembly’s passage of S 416, which will dramatically alter, if not effectively repeal, the Racial Justice Act. I summarized the bill […]

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Every now and then someone asks about the significance of a trial judge’s commission. Just what is a judge’s commission, when is it needed, where does it come from, and […]

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There were so many significant and interesting stories this week, it’s hard to decide where to begin. But I’ve settled on this USA Today story about federal inmates serving sentences […]

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In District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), the United States Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess firearms for lawful purposes […]

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The General Assembly’s in session, and Republican legislators are moving to amend the Racial Justice Act. An AP article on point states that the proposal would “strip away much of […]

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Yesterday, I noted that the John Edwards jury had been deliberating for nine days. Apparently, nine days was long enough. As the News and Observer notes here, the jurors reported […]

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I thought that if I delayed this post long enough, I would be able to include something about the John Edwards verdict. But there still isn’t one, so I can […]

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Well, this is embarrassing. “Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to . . . probe . . . UNC-Chapel Hill’s African and Afro-American Studies […]

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A new edition of Volume Two of the North Carolina Defender Manual has just been released. Volume Two addresses trial issues, from jury selection through verdict and beyond. It also […]

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